The Symphony of Time And Space
by The Raggedy Time Traveller
Summary: It's been two years since the Manhattan disaster, and Emily Mock is now seventeen years old. Now going by the name 'Symphony', what will happen when the Doctor and Emily are reunited? And what will occur when Clara, the impossible girl, comes into their lives? Sequel to My Tales From The TARDIS. (Set during series 7 part 2 with some original adventures here and there) R&R please!
1. Found At Last

**Welcome back everyone! I hope you enjoyed My Tales From The TARDIS, because this is the beginning of the sequel! Y'all should know what to do by now. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the beginning of The Symphony of Time And Space! Read, review, favorite and follow! -emock613**

**Found At Last**

_Two Years After Manhattan_

I stood in front of the crowd before me, like I had done so for awhile now, and cleared my throat.

"_Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in awhile. Please promise me you'll try. Then you'll find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free. If you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me. We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea. But if you can still remember, stop and think of me,_" I sang not phased by everyone watching me, "_Think of all the things we've shared and seen. Don't think about the way things might have been. Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times. Think of the things we'll never do. There will never be a day when I won't think of you!_"

The customers and workers at the Rose and Crown applauded me and dropped tips into a small jar I had. This is how it had been ever since I had been transported here by that weeping angel. I worked day shifts as a barmaid, and nights as the entertainer. I would usually sing songs from 19th century musicals like "Phantom of the Opera" and "Les Miserables", but sometimes I would throw a wild card into the mix.

"Come on, Emily! Shift's over for the night!" my friend Clara called.

"Just a minute! I'll be right out!" I called back. Clara was my closest friend. She's actually the one responsible for hooking up the entertainer part of my job. I gathered my pay and tips together in my jar, hung my apron on its hook, and walked out the door.

"Come on, Clara! I thought you were waiting on me!" I shouted.

"I gave you a minute, now you give me one!" she shouted back. Upon turning around from the door, I screamed at what was in front of me. Possibly the scariest looking snowman was standing there, and it wasn't there a second ago.

"Oi! Clara! Get out here!" I called. Clara came running out.

"What is it?" she asked, then looked at the snowman, "Oh, that's what." A man wearing a ragged top hat came around the corner.

"Did you make this snowman?" Clara asked him.

"No," he said with an unbelievably familiar voice.

"Well, someone did. Last I recalled, snowmen are made, not grown," I said causing the man to stop. He turned, put on some glasses, came towards us and looked at the snowman closer.

"Maybe it's snow that fell before," he said, "Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen."

"What, snow that can remember?" Clara asked, "That's silly."

"What's wrong with silly?" I asked her, slightly offended.

"Nothing. Still friends with you, ain't I?" Clara said. The man smiled at us.

"What are you names?" he asked.

"I'm Emily," I said causing him to perk up a bit, "And this is Clara." He took off his glasses.

"Those are nice names. You should definitely keep them," he said, "Emily, would you mind if I had a word with you for a moment?"

"I wouldn't mind at all, sir," I said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Clara."

"All right," she said. I followed the man who looked and sounded exactly like the Doctor around the corner. He was going a bit fast for me, so I had to call him down.

"Doctor! Wait up!" I shouted. He stopped dead in his tracks, probably out of a mix of shock and joy. He turned to face me with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Emily?" he asked, "Is it really you?" Tears of joy were running down my face as I ran into his arms.

"I thought you forgot about me," I said between sobs.

"My Emily," he said, "I found you at last." We stayed there locked in each other's grasp for a good minute, both of us worried that the other would disappear. We could've stayed there forever, but Clara came around the corner causing us to break apart.

"Where are you two going? I thought we was just getting acquainted, but I guess not. You two clearly fancy each other," she said.

"It's a long story, Clara, and I don't have the time to tell it," I said. She walked back around the corner. I had only just now noticed that I was missing my shawl, and with it being the dead of winter, I began to shiver. The Doctor noticed and acted almost immediately. He took off his coat, wrapped it around me, and linked my arm in his.

"Thank you," I said.

"Carriage is just over there," he pointed out. We walked around to find Madame Vastra's carriage waiting for us.

"Good evening, Strax," I told him.

"Good evening, ma'am," he replied. We entered the carriage and drove off. Madame Vastra came on over the telephone thing in the corner.

"Nice to know that you found Emily again, but what about the other girl? Was she nice?" she asked.

"I just spoke to her," the Doctor said. There was something different about him. It was almost as if he had gone darker in personality.

"And made your usual impact, no doubt," Vastra said.

"No, no impact at all. Those days are over," he said.

"I'm sorry, but what kind of backwards nonsense were those words that just came from your mouth?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to the TARDIS," he promised.

"You can't help yourself," Vastra said, "It's the same story every time and it always begins with the same two words."

"She'll never be able to find me. She doesn't even have the name. Doctor," he said, "What two words?" The hatch on the roof of the carriage opened and Clara stuck her head through.

"Doctor?" she asked, "Doctor who?"

We pulled over almost immediately after Clara managed to squeeze through the tiny hatch. The Doctor dragged me out of the carriage with him quickly as he shut the door behind him. Strax was watching the infamous Great Intelligence carriage pull into the large mansion across the street.

"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London," Strax said, "What do you suppose they're doing in there?" The Doctor was looking at the snow closely.

"This snow is new. Possibly alien," he said, "When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?"

"A camera," I said.

"A grenade," Strax said before I facepalmed.

"You don't have to destroy everything, Strax," I reminded him.

"A profit," the Doctor corrected, "That's Victorian values for you."

"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines, and acid!" Strax said.

"Why?" the Doctor and I asked together.

"Couldn't we at least investigate?" Strax tried.

"That's more like it! This is right up our alley, Doctor! I'm craving an adventure!" I said.

"It's none of our business," the Doctor said.

"WHAT?!" I asked, "Since when is it none of out business? This has been your business for a thousand years, and you're just gonna give up?!"

"I agree with the female, sir," Strax said, Permission to express my opposition to your current apathy?"

"Permission granted," the Doctor said.

"Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy," Strax relayed.

"Thank you, Strax. And if ever I'm in need of advice from a psychotic potato dwarf, you'll be the certainly be the first to know," the Doctor said.

"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable," Strax said.

"Strax is right," I said, "Not sure about the destroying though, but we need to at least find out what the Great Intelligence is planning to do with the snow, and if possible, prevent it."

"It is not our problem," the Doctor said. I tried to oppose, but he put a finger to my lips.

"Over a thousand years of saving the universe," the Doctor said, "Do either of you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care. Now, we have a problem of our own to worry about." I was right. The Doctor certainly has changed, but not for better.

"Actually we have two problems to worry about," I corrected under my breath. The Doctor opened the carriage.

"Oi!" Clara shouted.

"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you," the Doctor said.

"What is that thing?" she asked pointing at Strax.

"Silence, boy!" Strax commanded.

"That's Strax. And as you can see, he's easily confused!" the Doctor said.

"Silence, girl," Strax corrected, "Sorry, lad."

"Sontaran. Clone warrior race. Factory produced, whole legions at a time. Two genders is a bit further than he can count," I explained.

"Ma'am, do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls. It's embarrassing," he said.

"Typical middle child of six million," the Doctor said.

"Who are you? And how do you two know each other?" Clara asked.

"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met," he said before turning to Strax, "We'll need the worm."

"You'll need the what?" Clara and I asked together.

"The worm? What worm?" Clara finished slightly panicking.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt, but one touch on your bare skin and you lose the last hour of your memory," the Doctor explained. Strax returned, but with no worm in sight.

"Where is it?" the Doctor asked.

"Where's what, sir?" Strax asked.

"I sent you to get the memory worm," the Doctor reminded.

"Did you? When? Who's he?" he asked looking at Clara, "Look! It's been snowing."

"You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?" the Doctor said.

"Why would I need the gauntlets?" Strax asked, "Do you want me to get the memory worm?" All the Doctor could do was utter some unheard words before we all got out of the carriage. I stood next to Clara. The Doctor was looking under the carriage at Strax.

"Well can you see it?" he asked.

"I think I can hear it," Strax replied. Clara and I let loose a small laugh.

"Oi, Emily, make sure your friend doesn't try to run away," the Doctor said.

"Why would I run?" Clara asked, "I know what's gonna happen next and it's funny."

"What's funny?" he asked her.

"Well, you're little pal for a start. He's an ugly little fella, isn't he?" Clara said.

"Maybe. He gave his life for a friend of mine once," the Doctor defended.

"Then how come he's still alive?" she asked.

"Another friend of mine brought him back. I'm not sure all his brains made the return trip!" he said.

"I can see it!" Strax said.

"Ooo! Can you reach it? Have you got it?" the Doctor asked. I saw some gloves sitting on the bench of the carriage. I held them up for the Doctor to see.

"I'm guessing these are the gauntlets?" I said. Clara giggled.

"Sir, emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab!" Strax exclaimed causing me to laugh. The Doctor snatched the gauntlets from my grasp, reached under the carriage, and pulled out a large white worm with ease.

"There you go. One touch and you lose about an hour of your memory. Let it bite you and you could lose decades," he said while stuffing the worm into a jar, "And you're still not trying to run."

"I don't understand how the snowman built itself, or how you two know each other. I'll run once both of you have explained."

"I'll tell you tomorrow when we're with the children," I whispered. She nodded. There was a slight breeze, and the snowman from earlier appeared.

"Clara, that's our snowman," I said, "How did it get here?" She was listening to the Doctor as he rambled on about the snow.

"No, Doctor," I said pulling them out, "Our snowmen, Clara."

"Ah! Interesting. Well were you thinking about it?" the Doctor asked me. Another snowman appeared.

"Yes," I said.

"Well, stop," he instructed as more snowmen appeared, "Emily, stop thinking about the snowmen!" One of them bared its fangs and blew snowflakes at us.

"Get down!" the Doctor exclaimed dragging us all to the floor, "Emily, listen to me. The snow's feeding off your thoughts."

"I don't understand," Clara said.

"She's caught in their telepathic field. They're mirroring her," he said then turned back to me, "The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear. Imagine them melting. I know you can with that creative mind of yours! Picture them melted!" I pictured just that, and I felt a splash of cold water on my face. Clara squealed from surprise. I opened my eyes to find nothing more than puddles of water where the snowmen were.

"Very good, Emily. Very, very good!" the Doctor said helping us up.

"Is that gonna happen again?" Clara asked.

"Well, if it does, you know what to do about it," the Doctor said. Clara looked at the worm in the jar.

"Unless I forget," she said. The Doctor led her back to the carriage.

"Don't come looking for me. Forget about me. You understand?" he asked.

"What about the snow? Shouldn't we be warning people?" Clara asked.

"Not my problem," he said shutting the door, "Merry Christmas. Take her back where we found her."

"Sir," Strax groaned. The Doctor linked arms with me again and led me to a fenced off park.

"How do you expect me to get over that?" I asked him pointing to the fence, "I'm wearing a dress for Pete's sake!"

"Oh, I missed you, Emily," he said pulling me over the fence. The Doctor jumped up to pull down a ladder.

"Ladies first," he said.

"Like I just said; I'm wearing a dress," I repeated. He climbed up the ladder, and once I had a grip on it, the ladder began to retract. When I reached the top of the ladder, there was a spiral staircase.

"Please don't tell me I have to walk up all these in heels," I complained. The Doctor just smiled and swept me off my feet.

"While I wasn't going towards this, I will admit that I am grateful," I said as he walked up the staircase. Before I knew it, we were close enough to touch the stars. The Doctor set me back on my feet, but it's what was under me feet that really threw me.

"Talk about a castle on a cloud," I remarked.

"Where's the castle?" the Doctor asked. I pointed to the TARDIS; the wonderful blue box that I had been dying to see for years.

"Right there," I said. The Doctor hugged me again.

"Welcome home, Emily," he whispered.


	2. Governess In Training

**Governess In Training**

We could've just stayed there on that cloud in each others arms until time stopped, and I don't know why. I hesitantly pulled away.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor asked.

"It's just... You're so different even though you haven't regenerated," I said, "You seem darker than the madman I met in my driveway." He frowned and led me through the TARDIS doors.

"I was right, it is darker," I joked noticing all of the lights were out. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small folded slip of paper.

"This should explain everything," he said handing me the paper. I unfolded it to be greeted by the ending of 'Melody Malone'; the last page.

_Afterword by: Amelia Williams_

_Hello, old friend, and here we are, you and me on the last page. By the time you read these words, Rory and I will be long gone, so know that we lived well and we're very happy, and above all else, know that we will love you. Both of you, always._

_Sometimes, I do worry about you, though. I think, once we're gone you won't be coming back here for awhile and you might be alone, which you should never be._

_Don't be alone, Doctor. Emily is out there somewhere, waiting for you again. And from one girl who waited to another, I hope she doesn't have to wait long. If you've already found her, tell her that this whole thing was not her fault, and that I don't hold her responsible for it either. _

_And do one more thing for me. There's a little girl waiting in a garden. She's going to wait a long while, so she's going to need a lot of hope._

_Go to her. Tell her a story._

_Tell her that if she's patient, the days are coming that she'll never forget. Tell her she'll go to sea and fight pirates, she'll fall in love with a man who'll wait two thousand years to keep her safe, tell her she'll give hope to the greatest painter who ever lived, save a whale in outer space, and meet the lady out of time itself._

_Tell her this is the story of Amelia Pond, and this is how it ends._

"So they were taken too?" I asked on the verge of tears. The Doctor could only nod. I fell to my knees from sorrow and shock.

"I'm so sorry," I apologized, "I didn't know."

"You couldn't have known," the Doctor said, "You were sent fifty years before they were." Knowing that this was a sensitive subject, I changed it.

"How long were you alone?" I asked.

"I spent the past two hundred years searching all of time and space for you," the Doctor said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you were the only hope I had left in the universe," he said, "And when I got a phone call from Madame Vastra saying you were with her... I couldn't have been happier." I smiled up at him as he helped me back to my feet, but when I tried to take a step forward, my left foot screamed out in pain causing me to topple over again. Luckily the Doctor was there to catch me.

"What it it?" he asked, clearly worried.

"I guess I kind of forgot about it in the light of tonight's events," I admitted, "A day or two ago, I think I sprained something."

"How?" he asked.

"It's a long story that involves ice skating and attempting to dodge a stray log, but instead ramming right into it," I said, "I'm fine, really." I tried to take another step, but the Doctor had already lifted me off my feet for the second time that night.

"You're making a downright habit of this, you know," I said.

"I know," he said walking into the med-bay. After setting me down on a bed, he walked over to get a futuristic looking scanner.

"I'm guessing that's an x-ray?" I asked.

"Yep," he said, "Hold still." He turned the scanner on, and I was enveloped in a faint blue light. After about a minute, he got a result.

"Oh, Emily," he started, "you really should be more careful."

"Why?" I asked.

"Do the words 'broken ankle' ring a bell?" he responded.

"That bad?" I asked.

"That bad," he repeated, "but luckily I can fix it easily."

"If you're thinking of using your regeneration energy on me, know that I will pull a River and slap you," I said.

"Not what I meant," he said, "but a good guess." He gently removed my shoe from my foot, revealing its true swollen form. He frowned at me again.

"If you're about to ask why I didn't let Strax look at it, it's because it was his weekend off," I said.

"Weekend off?" he asked, clearly trying to get my attention away from my foot.

"Yeah," I said, "On the third Saturday of each month, Strax goes away to Glasgow for something to vent out his more Spartan side. It seems like that's been the only truly peaceful time all month." He laughed before something pinched my foot. No sooner than it started it stopped, though.

"And there we go," he said, "Give it about half an hour for the swelling to go down, two hours for the bones to mend."

"Thanks," I said before yawning, "I should probably get to bed, now." The Doctor tensed up.

"Oh, right. I had to delete your room in order to gain more speed," he admitted, "I need it to reconstruct. Any requests?"

"Something different," I said, "I'll just stay here for the night, seeing as I still can't walk on my foot."

"That would probably be best," he said, "Oh! I almost forgot. I have some things for you." He handed me my phone, laptop, and sonic screwdriver.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see these things," I said, "After going two years with no contact to technology, I thought I would go even madder than you!" I yawned again, and before the Doctor could leave the room, I was asleep.

When I woke up the following morning, the first thing I did was freak out.

"Crappity crappity crap!" I shouted running to the wardrobe with a bit of help from the TARDIS.

"Emily, what's the matter?" the Doctor asked me as I threw clothes all over the floor.

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" I said in a frenzy. Finding what I was looking for in a high class looking red dress, I changed, put my hair up in a bun, found my shoes, and ran out the TARDIS doors.

"Emily, please tell me what's going on," the Doctor said.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! I'm overdue! I'm really in a stew! No time to say goodbye, hello! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" I shouted down the spiral staircase. I could hear the Doctor's laughter all the way from the ladder. Once I was all the way down on ground level, I stopped Clara's carriage midway.

"Morning, Clara," I said, "My apologies for being late to breakfast." She was already in her clothes for her job as the governess of Captain Latimer's children, and today I was to be there to help her.

"No need to worry, Emily," she said with her posh accent, "I was in a bit of a hurry this morning as well."

"Do you really think I'll be allowed to accompany you?" I asked.

"Captain Latimer should be fine with it," she said, "I'll say you're my apprentice."

"Isn't that a bit medieval?" I asked.

"It is, isn't it?" she said. The carriage stopped, and Clara stepped out first with me behind her.

"Alice, how smart you look today," she complimented on the maid standing outside waiting for us.

"The governess should enter by the back door, unless accompanied by the children," Alice said.

"And how are the children? Excited about tomorrow?" Clara asked. I had almost forgotten that tomorrow was Christmas! My inner child would be ashamed of me.

"Francesca, same as ever," Alice said, "Digby says he missed you every day. Captain Latimer wants to see you and your assistant."

"Oh, how rude of me," Clara said, "This is Emily Mock. She'll be helping me with the Children today." I curtseyed.

"Merry Christmas," I said.

"You as well, ma'am," Alice said. We walked through the door and into the Captain's study.

"Captain Latimer," Clara said.

"Ah. Miss Montague, you're back," he said, "And you've found an assistant?"

"Yes, I have," she said, "May I introduce Miss Emily Mock. She'll be helping me with the children today. Christmas is always a busy time, so I prepared myself. Apologies for my brief absence. Family illness is so unpredictable. You wanted to see us?"

"Francesca has been having nightmares," he said.

"Young girls often do," I said.

"Every night this week, she says. Won't tell me about them," the Captain said.

"Perhaps if you asked her in the right way, there's no one she'd rather tell," Clara said.

"Children are not really my area of expertise," he said.

"If it's not too bold to say, Captain, they are, however, your children," I said.

"You both have, if I may say, a remarkable amount of wisdom in these matters, for two so very pretty, Miss Montague and Miss Mock," he said before correcting himself, "Young, I mean." I was trying my best not to laugh. Clara noticed, and we walked out the door.

"We'll see to the children, now," she said. As we walked around the corner to the back garden, I couldn't stop thinking about the reunion last night.

"How long have you been working here, 'Miss Montague'?" I asked, trying to get my mind on something else.

"About a year," she said, "You said that you'd tell me more about your friend, the Doctor today."

"As a story," I said, "As in a story for Francesca and Digby." Clara nodded, and we walked out the back door all prim and proper like to be greeted by two children chasing each other around.

"Miss Montague!" Francesca said.

"Miss Montague, you're back!" Digby exclaimed.

"Ah, ah ,ah!" Clara hushed.

"Good morning, Miss Montague," they said.

"Good morning, Francesca. Good morning, Digby," Clara said shaking their hands, "Christmas Eve is a most thrilling day, don't you think? And so in light of the thrills today will bring, I have brought an assistant. Allow me to introduce Miss Mock, a close friend of mine. Now, what have you two been up to while I've been away?"

"I did seven drawings! And we saw a dead cow!" Digby said.

"Well, how exciting!" I said trying to hide my true thoughts on the dead cow. I'd seen enough roadkill for a lifetime, thank you.

"Miss Montague, do your secret voice," Digby requested. We leaned in close together, as if not wanting to be heard.

"Allo, mates!" she said with her normal accent. The children laughed.

"Francesca, I heard that you've been having nightmares," I said as the pair of us sat down on a bench.

"There not exactly nightmares, Miss Mock. Just dreams," she said.

"About our old governess. The one who died. She's haunting Frannie from beyond the grave," Digby added while he waved his hands about mimiking a ghost. I had seen the event in the morning paper about a year ago.

"Haven't you spoken to your father about this?' I asked.

"You can't talk about things like that to daddy," Francesca said.

"You could try," I suggested.

"Do you want to see where she died?" Digby asked us. We walked around the corner back to the garden to find a frozen pond in the center.

"She fell in there, and then it froze. She was in the ice for days and days," Digby said pointing to the pond, "I hated her. She was cross all the time. In Frannie's dream she's still down there, waiting to come back." Clara leaned forward and tapped the pond.

"Everything else has thawed, but this pond is still frozen," she said.

_"The snow's feeding off your thoughts. The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear," _I recalled the Doctor saying to me.

"Frannie, this is important," I said, "You dream about her, what do you dream?"

"She's cross with me. She says I've been bad, and she's going to come out of the pond and punish me," she said.

"When?" I asked.

"She said she'd come back for Christmas. Tonight," Frannie said.

"I think Frannie's gone mad, don't you?" Digby asked, "I think she needs a doctor."

"Not just a doctor, Digby," I said, "We need THE Doctor."


	3. A Twisted Christmas

**A Twisted Christmas**

Clara had just gone out for a moment leaving me with the children in her absence.

"Miss Mock, a Mister Holmes is waiting for you," Alice called to me. Oh Doctor, you really aren't good at stealth.

"Holmes," Frannie said, "As is Sherlock Holmes?"

"I think so," I said.

"You know Sherlock Holmes?" Digby asked. I smiled.

"Yes I do," I said, "In fact, I'm his friend."

"That is wonderful!" he said, "Tell him I said hello, Miss Mock!"

"It would be my pleasure, Digby," I said walking down the stairs. The Doctor was waiting for me in the foyer with his Sherlock getup that he showed me before the Manhattan disaster.

"Sherlock Holmes, always a pleasure," I joked.

"Likewise, Miss Mock," the Doctor replied, "We'll be going now, Alice. Merry Christmas." We walked out of the house and to the carriage. Once we were driving away, I surrendered to curiosity.

"Why Sherlock Holmes as your disguise?" I asked, "And why would you even need a disguise?"

"Well, let's just say there's something I need to deduct, and I also need a Watson," he said.

"Who, me?" I asked.

"Yes, you!" he said, "Why not you?"

"Well, Watson is a guy, and as you can plainly see, I'm a girl," I said.

"Doesn't mean you can't play the part," he said.

"Touche," I said. We stopped in front of the Great Intelligence mansion and got out of the carriage. The Doctor knocked on the door, and we got no response.

"I should probably take this time to say that sometimes Sherlock Holmes is a bit rude, so if you want to enhance the disguise, act like your last incarnation," I said.

"Dually noted," he said. Finally, a butler of sorts answered the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"You might not be able to, but your employer can," the Doctor said.

"Okay, not that rude," I whispered to him.

"Who are you? Both of you?" the butler asked.

"I'm Sherlock Holmes and this is John Watson," he said.

"Beg pardon, but isn't John a male name?" the man asked.

"It's short for Joanne," I said.

"Right," he said, "Do come in." We walked into the foyer and waited at the door of the study. Leaning against the door, I was able to listen in.

"Danger, danger," a deep voice said.

"What's wrong?" Dr Simeon asked.

"There is danger here. An intelligence. An intelligence beyond anything else in this time and place.

"And that would be our queue?" I asked.

"Not quite yet, Watson," the Doctor said.

"Dr Simeon, sir. There're some people here to see you," the man from earlier said timidly.

"No callers. Not in here. Not ever. Did they leave their names?" Dr Simeon asked.

"Sir, it's Sherlock Holmes and John Watson!" the man said.

"That is our queue. Isn't it, Holmes?" I asked. As an answer, we burst through the door.

"Ooh, nice office. Big globey thing. Now, shut up, don't tell me!" the Doctor pointed to Dr Simeon with his cane, "I see from your collar stud you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?"

"No," Simeon said.

"But you've got a wife?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife?" the Doctor tried, "Some apples? Come on, work with me here!"

"I enjoy the Strand Magazine as much as the next man, but I am perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are both fictional characters, and Dr Watson is in fact a man," Simeon said, "Get out!"

"Do you have a cat named Whiskers?" I asked the butler. He thought for a moment.

"No," he said.

"Thought not," I replied before he left the study.

"Now, I see this is one of your business cards," the Doctor said holding one of them up, "It says so on the front." Simeon snatched the card from the Doctor's grasp.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"This," he said before looking to me, "Watson, you know what to do." I nodded as he tossed me his cane.

"Wakey Wakey!" I shouted as I smacked the globe multiple times, "So sorry, sir. It a sort of habit that I have."

"That is highly valuable equipment!" Simeon exclaimed grasping my arm, "You must step away, now."

"We are the Intelligence," the snow said.

"Oh! Talking snow. I love new things. Don't you, Watson?" the Doctor said.

"Yes, yes I do," I said handing him his cane.

"You are not of this world. Neither of you," the snow said.

"Takes one to snow one," I punned before laughing, "Get it? Ha!"

"Right, let's see. Multi-nucleate, crystalline organism with the ability to mimic and mirror what it finds," the Doctor said tapping the glass globe, "Looks like snow. Isn't snow."

"You must leave here now!" Simeon said.

"Shut up, I'm making deductions, it's very exciting. Now, what are you, eh? A flock of space crystals? A swarm?" the Doctor began his ramble and I noticed Simeon ring for assistance, so I soniced the door shut on both sides.

"The snowmen are foot soldiers, mindless predators. But you - you're the clever one. You're the Moriarty. So you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can, and when you've learnt enough, what do you do? You can't conquer the world using snowmen. Snowmen are rubbish in July. You'll have to be better than that. You'll have to evolve," the Doctor continued.

"Sir, it appears to be stuck," one of the men from outside called.

"What have you done?" Simeon asked, "Have you locked the doors?" I grinned mischievously.

"You need to translate yourself into something more, well, human," the Doctor said, "To do that you'd need a perfect duplication of human DNA in ice form - where do you find that?" He walked over to the desk and picked up the file.

"Let's see then, shall we?" I asked tossing the file into the air, "Oh, Simeon, you really need to delete your history every once and awhile." The file landed to the floor opening up to last Christmas's headline in the paper.

"Governess frozen in pond," the Doctor read, "Gotcha!"

"We should be going, Sherlock," I said pointing to the other doors. He took my hand.

"Just like old times, eh?" he asked. I nodded as we ran into the carriage.

"Strax, take us to Captain Latimer's back garden, please," I called.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. By the time we were over the hedge and scanning the pond with our screwdrivers, it was dark out.

"Body frozen in a pond, the snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a fell body scan," the Doctor mused, "Everything they need to evolve. Pond. Good point, Clara." I smiled sympathetically at him. Strax came walking behind us.

"Hello, Strax," I said, "What are you doing here?"

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades," Strax said.

"Grenades?" the Doctor asked.

"She might have said help," Strax said.

"Help for what?" I asked.

"Well, your investigation," he said.

"Investigation? Who says we're investigating? Do you think I'm going to start investigating just because some bird smiles at me?" the Doctor asked, "Who do you think I am?" Strax hesitated for a bit.

"Sherlock Holmes and John Watson," he said. The Doctor jumped down from the pond.

"Don't be clever, Strax," he said, "It doesn't suit you."

"He can be clever if he wants, Doctor," I said.

"He can be, but honestly he sounds like Anderson when he is," the Doctor said.

"Sorry, sir," Strax said.

"I'm the clever one, you're the potato one," the Doctor said.

"Yes, sir," Strax said.

"Now go away," the Doctor said.

"Yes... Mr Holmes!" Strax said walking off.

"Oi! Shut up, you're not clever or funny and you've got tiny little legs!" the Doctor retorted. Strax simply laughed.

"Tiny little legs? Is that the best you can come up with?" I asked.

"And you think you could come up with better?" he challenged. Before I could say a witty comeback, the upstairs curtain flew open to reveal Clara. She waved to us and smiled; we waved back. She gestured for us to come up. The Doctor was a bit hesitant, but before he could come up with some clever way to get out of this, I signaled that we'd be up in five minutes. She smiled and closed the curtains. The Doctor was now glaring at me.

"What was that all about? Five minutes, where did that come from?" he asked.

"I thought it would do you good to actually socialize and not be the introverted teenager that I was before you took me away," I said. We walked around to the back door and up the stairs extremely quietly, which was a challenge considering that the Doctor was no mastermind on the topic of stealth. Once we were upstairs in what looked like a bonus room, we dove behind the puppet show.

"Ooh! Haven't seen these in awhile!" the Doctor almost shouted.

"Shush!" I whispered, "Or do you want to be arrested on Christmas Eve?"

"No, that would not be very holly jolly," he said. I stifled a laugh when I heard what sounded like moving ice going across the rug. Peeking over the curtain, I was able to see the previous governess of the house, but she was made completely of ice. I gasped slightly and dove back under.

"What was it? What did you see?" the Doctor asked me.

"The ice lady!" I whispered. Clara, Frannie and Digby screamed.

"Bloomin 'ell!" Clara shouted.

"The children have been very naughty!" the ice lady said. There was a bit of inaudible talking before Clara shouted.

"Run!" she shouted. The three came out of the door with Clara locking it behind them.

"Frannie, Frannie, imagine her melting," Clara said.

"What?!" Frannie asked.

"In your head! Melt her," Clara instructed.

"I can't!" Frannie exclaimed. There was a bang on the door.

"I'm getting impatient!" the ice lady said before flinging open the door, "You have been very naughty!" I popped out from behind the puppet thing.

"Well what are you gonna do, eh? Stick a lump of coal in my stocking?" I asked.

"Miss Mock!" the children exclaimed.

"That's right!" I said.

"What about the man? You said the man was here, the cloud man," Digby said.

"Well, he's not, is he?" Clara asked.

"Where's the Doctor?" Digby asked.

"Doctor?" I asked laughing, "Doctor who?" One of the puppets shot up from the stage holding the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, and aiming it at the ice lady, she blew to smithereens.

"That's the way to do it!" the Doctor said with a weird voice popping up from the stage. He made the puppet kiss, then slap his cheek, "Oi, ow!" I laughed. We went towards sonicing the carpet for any remains of her.

"Where did she go?" Frannie asked, "Will she come back?"

"Don't panic, Frannie. She's just draining through the carpet," I said, "I apologize if any damage is done."

"New setting, anti-freeze, and you're very welcome, by the way," the Doctor said.

"I'm very grateful," Clara said, "I knew you'd come."

"No you didn't, because I don't. Emily's just been waiting on something like this to happen," the Doctor said making me blush, "So, the next time you're in trouble just ask her to deal with..." He trailed off noticing that he was wearing a bow tie again. I had to fight the urge to sport a wide grin.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Clara asked.

"Sorry, it's just..." the Doctor trailed off again, "I didn't know I'd put it on." He frowned.

"Old habits," he said. I walked next to him and took his hand.

"I think it's cool," I said making him crack a smile.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? It is very cool. Bow ties are cool!" he said before starting to pose in front of the mirror.

"No, the room. The room is getting colder," Clara said. Turning to face the rug, I saw the ice lady begin to grow back.

"She's coming back!" Frannie shouted, "What is she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" I tried sonicing her with my screwdriver, but there was no effect.

"Wonderful, she's learnt not to melt," I said sarcastically, "Doctor?" He dragged me over to Frannie.

"Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast. She's going to eat you," the Doctor said.

"That doesn't help!" I shouted.

"Run!" the Doctor said before dragging the four of us along with him to the stairs. Frannie and Digby ran hand in hand down the stairs followed by the Doctor, Clara and me.

"Children, what is the expl..." Captain Latimer trailed off to look up at the Doctor, "Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?"

"It's okay! I'm your governess's gentleman friend and we've just been upstairs..." the Doctor started looking for the right word, "kissing!"

"What?!" Clara and I said.

"Captain Latimer, in the garden, there's snowmen! And they're just growing, out of nowhere, all by themselves - look!" Alice said opening the front door for Vastra and Jenny.

"Good evening, I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time and this is my wife!" Vastra said causing Alice to scream. She ran over to the back only to run into Strax.

"This dwelling is under attack! Remain calm, human scum!" Strax commanded.

"Ah, Strax," I said, "Spartan as always." Poor Alice could only scream and faint. The Doctor ran down to the Captain.

"So, any questions?" he asked. Latimer looked up to Clara and me.

"You have a gentleman friend?" Latimer asked. We sighed.

"Vastra, what's going on out there?" I asked walking down the stairs and to a nearby window.

"The snow is highly localized, and on this occasion not naturally occurring," Vastra said.

"It's coming out of that cab parked by the gates," Jenny said.

"Sir, ma'am, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens!" only Strax could have said.

"They're made of snow, Strax their already smithereens!" the Doctor said tugging on one of Strax's ears, "See, Clara - our friends again."

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asked.

"Your governess and her assistant are in reality a former barmaid and an entertainer called Clara and Emily," the Doctor said before either of us could.

"That's the way to do it!" the ice lady called from the top of the stairs.

"Meanwhile your late governess is a walking ice sculpture impersonating...?" I said, "Who is she impersonating, Doctor?"

"Mr Punch," he said.

"What he said," I said pointing to the Doctor.

"That's the way to do it!" the ice lady said again.

"Got anything, Jenny?" I asked stepping off the stairs. She threw a forcefield at the ice lady, trapping her at the top of the stairs.

"Should hold it," Jenny said.

"Sir, this room - one observational window on the line of attack, and one defendable entrance," Strax said running out of the study."

"Right, everyone in there now. Move it," the Doctor said turning to Latimer, "You, carry her." Latimer carried Alice into the study behind his children, while the Doctor and I were sonicing the ice lady.

"Nice to see you off your cloud and engaging again," Vastra said.

"I'm not engaging again, I'm under attack."

"You missed this, I know it," I said.

"Oh... shut up," he said before we ran into the study.


	4. All Is Calm, But Not All Is Bright

**All Is Calm, But Not All Is Bright**

The first thing I did when the Doctor and I entered the study was look out the window. There were so many snowmen just standing there like some kind of _Nightmare Before Christmas _exhibit.

"Strax, how long have we got?" the Doctor asked.

"They're not going to attack," Strax reported, "They made no attempt to conceal their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily - and they're clearly in a defense formation."

"I told you he could be clever, Doctor," I said.

"Well done, Straxie! Still got it, buddy!" the Doctor said before rubbing Strax's head.

"Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep," Strax said trying not to laugh.

"So there's something here they want?" Vastra asked. Clara stood from her spot in a chair.

"The ice woman," she said.

"Right on it, Clara," I said.

"Why is she so important?" Jenny asked.

"Because she's a perfect duplication of human DNA in ice crystal form. The ultimate fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve - and she's the blueprint. She's what they need to become," the Doctor explained pacing around the room then pointed to Clara and I, "When the snow melted last night did the pond?"

"No," Clara said.

"The ice didn't even look thin," I added.

"Living ice that will never melt. If the snow gets hold of that creature on the stairs, it will learn to make more of them. It will build an army of ice. And it will be the last day of humanity on this planet," the Doctor said grimly. The doorbell rang and he cracked his neck making me wince, "Stay here." He walked out of the study.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked Clara.

"Inevitably," she said. We walked out the door to follow him.

"Oi, I told you both to stay in there," the Doctor said.

"Oh, we didn't listen," Clara said.

"You do that a lot. More than Emily, in fact," he said.

"Hey!" I piped in.

"It's why you like me," Clara said.

"Who says I like you?" he asked. Clara pulled the Doctor in for a long kiss, making me gasp in both shock and hilarity. No matter how hard the Doctor tried, he couldn't break free until Clara released him.

"I think you just did," Clara said.

"You kissed me!" the Doctor said.

"You blushed," I added snickering.

"And we just..." he stammered straightening his bow tie, "Shut up!" He ran to the door. Clara and I smiled at each other before following him. The Doctor opened the door to reveal Dr Simeon and his growing army of snowmen; both of us glared at him.

"Release her to us," Simeon commanded, "You have five minutes." Thinking of no better response, I slammed the door in his face.

"We need to get her out of here - but keep her away from them," the Doctor said pointing to the ice governess.

"How?" Clara asked. He pulled out an umbrella from the stairs.

"With this," he said.

"Those creatures outside, what are they?" Latimer asked.

"No danger to you, as long as I can get that thing out of there," the Doctor said.

"Go back inside, Captain," I said. He went back into his study, leaving the three of us and the ice lady. The Doctor ran up the stairs and began to sonic the forcefield. I decided to help him.

"What are you two doing?" Clara asked joining us on the stairs.

"Between us, I can't wait to find out," the Doctor said. The forcefield was behind us now, trapping us with the ice lady.

"Right, if you look after everyone here, then we can... Clara!" the Doctor said just now noticing her.

"Doctor!" Clara said drawing his attention back to the governess who was right in front of us. She lunged, but we dodged her and ran up the stairs.

"That was stupid!" the Doctor called.

"You were stupid, too!" Clara called back.

"I'm allowed, I'm good at stupid!" he said.

"That's the way to do it!" the ice lady chirped.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Clara asked.

"I think it's something to do with that phrase being the last thing she heard before reforming which was easily stuck in her head," I said.

"Either that or random mirroring," the Doctor said, "We need to get to the roof!" Clara started to drag us to the open window.

"I do the hand grabbing, that's my job, that's always me!" the Doctor complained.

"And sometimes me!" I added. Once we got to the window, the Doctor leapt through easily, but Clara and I were a different story altogether. I opened the other window, tried to climb through, but I was caught by my bustle.

"What are you two doing?" the Doctor asked us.

"Our bustles are stuck," I said, "A hand, please?" He lent a hand to each of us, tugged back, and pretty soon we fell right on top of him.

"You're both going to have to take those clothes off," he said. Clara gasped.

"I didn't mean..." he trailed off again.

"I know," Clara said, "I understand, I do."

"Good," he said.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

"Who said I've got a plan?" he asked.

"Course you've got a plan. You took that," Clara said picking the umbrella up.

"Maybe I'm an idiot," he said.

"So, now you admit it?" I asked sarcastically.

"You're not," Clara said, "You're clever. Really clever."

"Are you?" the Doctor asked tossing her the umbrella, "If I've got a plan, what is it? You tell me."

"That's the way to do it!" the ice lady said stopping at the window.

"Is this a test?" I asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said.

"What will it do?" Clara asked.

"Kill us," he said.

"That's the way to do it!" the ice lady repeated before turning into snow.

"So, come on then - plan, do I have one?" he asked.

"Oh, I knew straight away," Clara said tossing him the umbrella.

"No you didn't," he said tossing it back to her.

"Course I did!" she said.

"Show me!" he exclaimed.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because we'll be dead in under thirty seconds," I pointed out, "So, does he have a plan?!" Clara started to pace.

"If we'd been escaping, we'd be climbing down the building. If we'd been hiding, we'd be on the other side of the roof, but no. We're standing right here," Clara explained.

"So?" the Doctor asked.

"So!" Clara pulled down the ladder with the umbrella, "After you!"

"After you!" the Doctor said.

"After you, we wearing dresses in case you haven't noticed," I said, "Eyes front, soldier!"

"My eyes are always front!" the Doctor defended starting to climb.

"Mine aren't," Clara flirted making him stop.

"Stop it!" the Doctor said.

"No!" Clara called up. We both got a grip on the ladder as the ice lady materialized from the snow.

"We understand that you're the previous governess, but we regret to inform you the position is taken," Clara said as the ladder began to rise.

"Merry Christmas," I called down to it. The Doctor pulled us to our feet.

"You never told me you could control your cloud," I said.

Please, Emily, no one can control clouds. That would be silly," the Doctor said, "The wind, a little bit." The ladder shook revealing that the ice lady was climbing up the edge.

"She's following us!" Clara said.

"My, goodness! She's relentless!" I added.

"That's the her away from the snow!" the Doctor said dragging us behind him, "So, barmaid or governess, which is it?"

"That thing is after us, and you want a chat?" Clara asked.

"Well, we can't chat after we've been horribly killed, can we?" the Doctor said. Even though we have only been climbing for a few minutes, we were already at the top of the cloud.

"How did we get up so high so quick?" Clara asked.

"Clever staircase, it's taller on the inside," the Doctor said.

"Do staircases even have an inside?" I asked.

"If you want them to," the Doctor said. We all stood on the cloud.

"I never asked, what is your cloud made of?" I said.

"Super-dense water vapor. Should keep her trapped, for the moment," the Doctor said sonicing shut the rest of the cloud.

"So you actually live up here? On a cloud, in a box?" Clara asked.

"I have done, for a long time," the Doctor said.

"Blimey, you really know how to sulk," she said.

"I'm not sulking!" he defended.

"You live in a box!" she said.

"That is no more a box than you are a governess," he said.

"Uh, Doctor, you really shouldn't have said that," I whispered to him.

"Oh, spoken like a man! You're the same as all the rest," Clara ranted as the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS, "Sweet little Clara, works at the Rose and Crown, ideas above her station! Well, for your information I'm not sweet on the inside and I'm certainly not-" The new TARDIS console came to life right before my eyes. It wasn't as big as before, and it was more organized than the last desktop. Everything had its own place, and honestly, it was a bit too grown up for the Doctor's standards.

"Little," Clara finished.

"She's called the TARDIS," I said, "She can travel anywhere in all of time and space."

"And she's mine," the Doctor said.

"But it's... Look at it, it's..." Clara was too spellbound to say anything.

"Go on, say it, most people do," the Doctor said. Clara ran out the doors, circled the exterior a few times and came back in.

"It's smaller on the outside," she said. The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Okay, that is a first," he said before running over to the controls.

"Is it magic? Is it a machine?" Clara asked running up a staircase.

"It's a ship," he said.

"A ship?" she asked.

"Best ship in the universe," he said. Clara walked down to join us.

"Is there a kitchen?" she asked.

"Another first," he said.

"I don't know why I asked that, it's just... I like making souffles," she said. I looked to the Doctor, who also looked at me.

"Oswin?" I mouthed. He shrugged.

"Why are you showing me all this?" Clara asked.

"You followed me, remember - I didn't invite you," the Doctor said.

"Well, it was either follow us, or get killed," I said.

"You're nearly a foot taller than I am, both of you. You could've reached the ladder without this," Clara tossed the umbrella to me, "You took it for me. Why?" The Doctor walked over to Clara.

"I never know why. I only know who," he said pulling out a TARDIS key and handing it to Clara.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Me. Giving in," he said. My eyes widened and a smile leapt across my face. Clara even began crying tears of joy.

"I don't know why I'm crying..." she said.

"I do. Remember this - this right now, remember all of it. Because this is the day, this is the day!" the Doctor started running around the console, "This is the day everything begins!" The Doctor was too engrossed with the controls to notice the ice lady come up from behind and snatch Clara away.

"Clara!" I called running out to her. With the umbrella in my hand, I did what I do best: I began to bash the ice lady upside her frozen head.

"Get her off of me!" Clara pleaded. I kept at it until the ice lady snatched the umbrella from my grip and tossed it over the edge.

"Water vapor doesn't stop ice, I should've realized!" the Doctor shouted brandishing his sonic, "Let her go. Let her go! NOW!" Before either of us could pull her back up, the ice lady had dragged Clara over the edge, and there was nothing we could do about it. Or was there? I ran to the edge of the cloud.

"Doctor, I've got a plan," I said.

"Well, whatever it is, tell me quickly," he said. I let my actions speak louder than words as I spread my arms out and turn to face him.

"If this works, send the TARDIS right underneath us. I'll pilot her back up to you," I said, "Take a good look, Doctor, because this might be the last chance you have." With those words I dove off the cloud and fell towards Clara.

"Emily!" the Doctor called. After a minute, I was close enough to reach her hand.

"Clara!" I called, "Take my hand, quickly!" She reached out, but before I could get a grip, an unnaturally strong gust of wind blew me away.

"No!" we called out. I was now for the first time in two whole years truly scared for my life. The ground was getting really close really fast.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," was the last thing I said before crashing to the cobblestone street.

For what seemed like forever, I lied in the street. It felt like every bone in my body had broken, and all I could do was let the newly fallen snow cover me. I was alone; so very alone in the alleyway. I guess it was a good thing, though. No one would freak out if they witnessed what was about to happen. Right on time, the familiar golden dust began to spew from my hands. I took a shaky stance and stretched out my arms again, letting more and more dust come out, and finally it consumed me for the third time. I felt my bones mend, my hair grow out, and my height shrink as the regeneration energy faded away. Would you like to know what the first thing I heard was? It was the sweet hum of the TARDIS's parking brakes coming in for a landing; that's what I heard. I turned to the box with new eyes to find the Doctor and Madame Vastra waiting for me. I ran to them, enveloping them in a hug. The Doctor retuned it.

"I thought I lost you," he said.

"Takes more than a fall to lose me, Doctor," I said.

"We are going to discuss your recklessness after our little visit with the talking snow," he said making me roll my eyes.

"Doctor, how many times must I tell you that I'm not reckless?" I asked with no answer. He flipped a few switches with a look of determination in his eyes, landed us in the big Great Intelligence study, and walked out the doors with Vastra and I in his wake.


	5. Something Impossible

**Something Impossible**

Just like last time, I was exhausted, so I sat on the couch next to the desk. The Doctor sat in the desk's chair and kicked his feet up onto the desk. Vastra just stood next to the Doctor. We sat there in silence for a few minutes. Even the snow wasn't talking. Eventually, Simeon came through the door.

"You promised us something. Have you brought it?" he asked.

"Big fella here's been very quiet while you've been out - which is only to be expected considering who he really is," the Doctor said before rising out and holding up a small tin, "Know what this is, big fella?"

"I do not understand these markings," the snow said.

"I'd say it's a map of the London underground. Circa late 1960's?" I guessed.

"Key strategic weakness, if you ask me, but then I have never liked a tunnel," the Doctor added.

"Well, neither have I," I said.

"Enough of this. We are powerful, but on this planet we are limited. We need to learn to take human form," the snow said, and as it said those words the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and began messing with the snow's voice, "The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity." By that sentence, the snow's voice was that of a young boy.

"What's happening to its voice?" Vastra asked.

"Just stripping away the disguise," the Doctor answered.

"No, stop! Stop that! Cease, I command you!" the snow ordered. Strangely enough, Simeon began to fall backwards, leaning onto his desk for support.

"It sounds like a child," Vastra said.

"Of course it sounds like a child, it is a child. Simeon as a child, the snow has no voice without him," the Doctor explained.

"Don't listen to him, he's ruining everything!" the snow said.

"How long has the intelligence been talking to you?" the Doctor asked.

"I was a little boy," Simeon said, "He was my snowman... He spoke to me."

"Oh, Simeon, that was mistake number one! When an inanimate object says something to you, the first thing to do is turn on your heels and run!" I said.

"Snow doesn't talk does it?" the Doctor asked, "It's just a mirror. It just reflects back everything we think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into a snowman, and look, look what it became!"

"I don't understand," Vastra said.

"It's a parasite," I said rising to join the Doctor, "And it's been feeding off the loneliness of Simeon's childhood, as well as the sickness of his adult life."

"Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values... and something terrible is born," the Doctor said.

"We can go on! And do everything we planned," the snow said.

"Oh, yes, and what a plan! A world full of living ice people. Oh, dear me, how very Victorian of you," the Doctor said.

"What's wrong with Victorian values?" Simeon asked, offended by the remark. He snatched the tin from the Doctor's grasp and began to take the lid off of it.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" I asked.

"I have always been sure," he said reaching into the box. I heard something bite him. Simeon dropped the tin to reveal the memory worm latched onto his wrist.

_"One touch and you lose about an hour of your memory. Let it bite you, and you could lose decades," _I recalled the Doctor saying.

"Good," the Doctor said coldly, "I'm glad you think so, since your entire adult life is about to be erased. No parasite without a host, without you, it will have no voice, without the governess, it will have no form."

"What... What's happening? What did you do?!" the snow demanded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Intelligence, but there's nothing left for you to mirror," I said, "Off you pop!"

"What did you... Did you... Did you..," the snow's voice began to fade before coming back fully, "Did you really think it would be that easy?" The Doctor and I stood there with unbelieving eyes.

"That is not possible. How is that possible?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor! Emily!" Vastra called to us from the window. We ran over and found more snow falling, but there was something different about it. It was almost as if the snowflakes were hissing. The three of us walked back to the Intelligence.

"But you were just Dr Simeon. You're not real," the Doctor said, "He dreamed you, how can you still exist?"

"Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die. Once I was the puppet," the Intelligence said. Suddenly, Simeon rose from his spot on the ground; his skin pale blue and appearing like frost.

"Now I pull the strings!" they said, "I have tried so long to take on human form. By erasing Simeon, you made space for me. I fill him now!" Vastra tossed me her spare sword as we advanced on Simeon. He easily slung Vastra aside, but I was able to stand my ground. However, he eventually was able to fling me right into the Doctor, knocking us both to the ground.

"More than snow, more than Simeon - even this old body is strong in my control," Simeon said. As his hand crept up to my face, I felt all the heat from my body drain away. It was so cold, so cold that it was painful. The Doctor and I shouted out in agony.

"Do you feel it?" Simeon asked us, "Winter is coming. Winter is coming!" The whole terrible ordeal was put to an end when I heard thunder outside, along with the patter of rain on the window. Simeon lurched back from us to the ground, letting all of the heat come back to us.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked me.

"Yeah," I rasped, "You?" He nodded.

"What's happening?" Simeon asked from the floor.

"Doctor, the globe!" Vastra called, "It's turning to rain. All of it, the snow, look." Sure enough, the globe was now beginning to fill with rainwater instead of snow. I looked back to Simeon to find that he was raising his hands to his face, before finally dying.

"He died," I said, "What happened?"

"The snow mirrors, that's all it does. It's mirroring something else now. Something so powerful, it's drowning everything else," the Doctor turned to me, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," I said, "Just a bit tired, that's all." He kept looking at me suspiciously.

"And possibly a small headache," I added. My eyelids drooped for no known reason.

"Emily, you should go sit down on the sofa for now. Don't panic if you start to fall asleep," he instructed.

All I could do was nod before stumbling over to the leather couch. I wish I could say that I sat down like a proper lady, but in truth I just fell face first into the cushions and let out a zombie like moan.

"Oh, hush," I heard the Doctor said. I smirked.

"You'd probably be like this too, if you were me," I replied through the couch. I even went far enough to stuff a pillow on top of my head. After that there was an inaudible conversation between the Doctor and Vastra, and then I heard footsteps come my way.

"You know, I think I've come up with a new name for myself," I said rising from my spot, "Back at the pub, people would say I that when I sang, I sounded like a symphony."

"Yes, and?" the Doctor asked.

"I think that should be my name," I slurred, "Symphony." We walked back into the TARDIS, and I plopped down in one of the chairs. Gosh, why was I acting this drunk? I'm only seventeen, for Pete's sake!

"Has she ever acted like this before?" Vastra asked.

"No," the Doctor said, "This is new." My vision was swimming now, and my thoughts were flying apart. I leaned onto the controls next to my chair. Maybe a nap was all I needed. Yes, maybe. My eyes finally slid shut.

"Symphony," I heard the Doctor say, "Symphony, wake up." I opened my eyes to find them looking right into the Doctor's.

"Why are you calling me Symphony?" I asked.

"I thought that was your name, now," the Doctor said.

"Oh, right. About last night, I had no idea why I was acting like that," I said blushing, "It's never happened to me before. And by the way you can still call me Symphony if you really want to."

"I guessed that," he said. My mind had finally cleared up.

"Doctor, is Clara dead?" I asked with a newly found seriousness. The Doctor's expression went dark.

"Yes," he said. Tears began to well up in my eyes. Clara was one of the only friends that I had since the weeping angel thing, and now she was gone.

"Symphony, I am so sorry. I know how close you two were," he said, "And it was my fault. She wouldn't have died if I had been paying more attention."

"Don't blame yourself, Doctor," I said, "Some things have to happen." His face suddenly went back to its carefree look.

"Oh, right! I forgot to mention! Her full name was Clara Oswin Oswald," he said before beginning to dance around the controls, "Clara Oswin Oswald, watch us run!"

"So she was Oswin, then?" I asked.

"No, um, well, yes? Maybe. I don't really know, but I do know that Clara and Oswin are the same woman. Possibly," he stammered.

"So, we don't have much to go on, we're traveling through all of time and space to find this mystery to the both of us, and you're dancing around the controls like a madman," I said, "Oh, I missed this so much!"

"There's something else you've probably missed a lot," he added, "Would you like to take a guess? I'll give you a hint: it's new."

"Well if it's new, how could I miss it?" I asked. With those words, the Doctor began to lead me down one of the corridors with my eyes covered.

"Oh! I know what it is now!" I said.

"Do you?" he asked when we stopped.

"It took me awhile, but I finally figured it out," I said. I heard a door creak open, and when I opened my eyes, I was met with my new TARDIS bedroom.

It was the same format as my last bedroom, but it was new enough to make me happy. The walls were TARDIS blue, the carpet was black, and the sheets on the bed were silver and gold. The wardrobes were mahogany, and the bathroom was as impressing as ever. A couple of new things were added, though. Such as the writing desk in the back corner, completely covered in pens, paper and journals along with my laptop. My personal bookshelf was next to the writing desk, and so was the giant book door thing.

"I'm glad you didn't completely redo the room," I said, "It would've taken way too long to get used to it."

"How?" he asked.

"It would be like getting used to the school routine after summer break," I said.

"Well, I can honestly say that the adventures we're gonna go on are absolutely nothing like school," he said smiling.

"How so?" I asked.

"School's boring, and all of time and space is not, Symph," he said.

"Symph?" I asked yawning.

"Well, Symphony might get a bit long a times, so I thought I could call you Symph," he said, "Is that all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine," I said, "Sorry, but I think you're gonna have to start the search on your own."

"And why's that?" he asked, but clearly he already knew.

"Take a look at me, Doctor. I just regenerated! And honestly, I'm exhausted!" I said.

"Oh, right!" he said before smacking his forehead, "I'll let you rest before we begin the search. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great," I yawned, "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to take a nap in private, please." I fell on top of my bed and didn't even bother to throw the covers over me. I didn't really matter though. I was out before I could turn off the lights.

**And so Symphony is Emily's name at last! I've got an original adventure planned before we begin The Bells of St John, and I'll give one hint as to what it's about: The second attempt at the Doctor's murderess. DUN DUN DUUUUN! Anyways, I'll probably post it some time in the week to come, but I don't know if it'll be soon. School has been absolute murder! D: See you guys then!**


	6. I'm Not A Psychopath

**I'm Not A Psychopath**

I was refreshed and ready for an adventure when I woke up in the TARDIS, but first things first, I needed a proper shower. After two years of living in the Victorian age, one does start to yearn for luxuries such as hot and cold water faucets, singing in the shower without being hushed, and taking as much time as you need to. I ran into the bathroom, and stopped dead in my tracks at the mirror.

The two things that really caught me about my new regeneration were my eyes and my hair. My eyes were TARDIS blue and round in shape, not squinty like last time. My hair, on the other hand, was all over the place in uncontrollable waist length ginger curls featuring the occasional blonde highlights.

"Okay," I said, "Bed head is gonna be a definite problem this time around."

I was shorter than before; probably five feet and three inches tall with porcelain skin which was dotted with freckles across the cheeks. I was a healthy weight; not too skinny and not too plump. Satisfied with how I currently looked, I took a long shower and belted out to Bruno Mars's "If I Knew". After towel drying my hair, I walked over to the wardrobe in my room to choose an outfit.

I finally decided on a pair of royal purple skinny jeans, a black and gray blouse, a black knee length trench coat, and black high tops with white star decals. My hair was up in a messy ponytail, which I could easily pull off, and I didn't even bother with makeup. The phone on my desk rang, and upon picking it up I was met by the Doctor's voice.

"Symphony, we have a problem," he said grimly.

"On a scale of one to ten how bad is it?" I asked.

"Eleven," he said, "Come to the console." I entered the wardrobe portal, which landed me under the controls and near the matrix, walked up, and found the Doctor staring unbelievingly at the monitor.

"So, what is it?" I asked. He turned to face me.

"Symphony, did River ever tell you about the Silence?" he asked. I felt myself turn white out of fright. The Silence was back? How?

"Yes, she did," I said, "But why would they want me? Making River into a psychopath didn't really get the job done."

"And that is exactly what worries me," he said, "Maybe River was the wrong person to be a psychopath. Maybe it was you." I laughed nervously.

"Me? A psychopath? That's crazy talk! I can be many things, Doctor, but never a psychopath. I think it's a scientific impossibility!" I was on the verge of a full out panic attack by now.

"Nothing's impossible, Symph," he said. That was it. I just dropped the optimist act and began full out sobbing hysterically on the console floor. I knew I was making a fool of myself, but I didn't care. The Silence were coming, and they wanted me for their personal flying monkey! The Doctor, noticing how emotionally torn up I was, knelt down to my level and looked me in the eyes.

"Symphony, I promise that the Silence will not make you into their psychopath," he said, "Understand?" I managed a small smirk.

"I'm not a psychopath, Doctor," I said, "I'm a high functioning sociopath. Do your research." The joke was more for my benefit than his, but he still laughed with me.

"One of these days, Symphony, I'm gonna let you meet Sherlock Holmes," he said pulling me to my feet, "And you're gonna see how much of a sociopath he really is."

"Let's cross that bridge once we're over the two we're currently on," I said, "As in, once we find Clara, and once we're away from the Silence." He nodded and worked feverishly at the controls, but to no avail. Wherever we were, we were stuck there for a long time.

"Okay, that's not working," the Doctor said, "Plan B!"

"Now you have plans," I said, "You've changed more than me, and I just regenerated!"

"Anyway, plan B," he said getting me back on topic, "Plan B is hide somewhere in the TARDIS."

"I like it," I said, "Simple, easy to remember. Anywhere in particular you want me to hide?"

"I'd suggest down one of the laundry chutes," he said, "It's just under the giant green slide, across the rope bridge and it goes right underneath the ball pit."

"Is there another one that can be found less complicatedly?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not," he said, "If the laundry chute idea doesn't work out you can just hide somewhere else."

"I've got the strangest feeling that the laundry chute is gonna work," I said running to one of the corridors.

"Really?" he asked, "How?"

"Just a hunch," I said before breaking into a full on sprint down the corridor.

I had been running for about an hour when the floor disappeared from underneath me, causing me to plummet down onto a mountain of clothes.

"I take it that was the laundry chute?" I asked no one in particular, "I'll take your sudden silence as a yes." Suddenly I heard the TARDIS doors fly open; they were here. Slightly panicking, I dove down into the clothes pile, and so began my long wait. After about thirty minutes of waiting in the base of the clothes mountain, I heard footsteps outside. One pair belonged to high heels, and the other pair to combat boots.

"Madame Kovarian, we can't find either of them anywhere," a gruff, militaristic voice reported.

"That's no excuse," the woman who must've been Kovarian said, "You haven't looked in the right places."

"Ma'am, what exactly are you planning on doing with the girl when you find her?" the man asked.

"Simple, Manton," she answered, "We make her into the perfect psychopath. Or to put it another way, Symphony will be silenced." I was on the verge of panicking again. There was no way on Raxicoricophalipatorious that I'd be going with them willingly, but I'm sure they knew that and were prepared. I scooted further into the clothes mountain and began to think. I hope the TARDIS telepathic circuits were still online.

_"TARDIS? I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack," _I thought, _"If you have some sort of teleport installed, could you bring me to wherever the Doctor is hiding? I can't do this on my own. I'm too scared. Please." _There was a hum from the TARDIS, a blinding white light, and then I was squished in a cupboard.

"Symphony, what are you doing here?" the Doctor asked in a whisper.

"In truth, Doctor, avoiding panicking!" I whispered back, "I went down the laundry chute, not by choice, mind you, and after half an hour of waiting Madame Kovarian was five feet away from my hiding spot."

The cupboard we were hiding in was suddenly lifted from its spot on the ground, taken into another room, and set back down on the ground roughly.

"Well, well, well," Kovarian said, "Doctor, if it's even possible, you're even more predictable than the last time we met." There was a small roar of laughter.

"Maybe we're just appearing to be predictable just to show how thick you lot really are," I retorted.

"And there she is," Kovarian started, "the Symphony of Time and Space herself."

"Doctor, how do they know that?" I asked him, "I only just made that name for myself yesterday!" The Doctor didn't answer. He was too preoccupied with something on my arms.

"Symph, don't panic," he said, "Look at your arms." I looked down at them to find hundreds of tally marks strewn across my arms, hands, and upon holding up a mirror I had in my coat pocket, on my face as well.

"Oh my goodness," I breathed trying to hold my composure, "Is that how many of the Silence I've seen?" I couldn't really see with the dim lighting of the cupboard, but I knew that the Doctor nodded. The Doors of the cupboard flew open to the console room. There were a few Silence, a platoon of soldiers with guns at the ready, and in the middle of them all was Madame Kovarian. She was still wearing that silver eyepatch, silver suit and ghastly dark shaded lipstick.

"I'm not very impressed Kovarian," I said, "A commander only comes with reinforcements if she's not confident in her skills."

"I'd watch your companion, Doctor," Kovarian advised, "She's quite rude."

"She has good reason," the Doctor said, finally getting a word in, "Now, you're going to leave my TARDIS without Symphony in your possession, and we'll just be on our way. We've got someone to find."

"I'm afraid it won't be that easy, Doctor," Kovarian said, "You see, your Symphony is going to play a very important role in our program, and it's key that she comes with us quietly." One of the Silence then proceeded to step forward with a syringe in its four fingered hand.

"So, if you want this little visit to be less messy, I suggest you give her to us, now," Kovarian finished. Now, the next thing that happened is very hard to explain. It was almost like the instrumental part for the bridge in Bruno Mars's "Runaway Baby" started to play, and the console's lights were flashing red.

"Doctor, permission to panic and make a hasty retreat?" I whispered to him. Knowing that I had an irrational fear of needles, the Doctor nodded. As the silent with the syringe began to walk slowly towards me, I let my adrenaline take over my system and mix with panic, causing me to bolt down a corridor at supersonic speed.

I had been running for ten minutes when I heard footsteps far behind me.

"There she is!" one of the soldiers exclaimed, "After her!" I dove through one of the nearby doors to find myself in a small garden. It was very tranquil; almost a little too tranquil for my taste. I ran into a small thicket of trees and bushes and hid there as the soldiers and a few Silence entered the garden. They looked and looked and looked forever, when finally they decided to give up.

"The girl's not here," a soldier said, "Let's look somewhere else." I was still hiding in my spot, and after five minutes the door slid shut. Cautiously, I poked my head up to take a look around; no one else was in the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, I stood up from my spot and started to walk away. My first mistake was not looking behind me when I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. All of a sudden I was extremely drowsy and I knew that I had been drugged. My entire body seemed to go numb as I sank to the grassy floor. I could make out the fuzzy appearance of a couple of soldiers and a Silent looking down on me.

"You shouldn't have done that," was the last thing I said before blacking out.

_Two Weeks Later, Demon's Run_

I sat at the edge of my cot and disappointedly stirred my daily meal of porridge. After a week of failed results, the Silence finally figured out the quite obvious answer that I was unable to be a psychopath. Like tried to tell them, it was a scientific impossibility. While that was true, it didn't mean they were going to set me free. They weren't that hospitable, oh, no. Instead they saw fit to interrogate me repeatedly for the second week, continually asking the same questions over and over again. Questions such as these: Why aren't you a psychopath? How are you even possible? Are you going to sing for us? and the most asked of them all, Why won't you just give up? Every time these questions were asked, and every time I gave them the same answers: It's impossible, I have no idea, no, I'm not going to sing for you, and why don't you just go die in a black hole?

I wish the questions would just stop already! One thing I did find out over the past two weeks, is that I can play music without having something like an iPod to play it on. I just think of the song I want to hear, and it'll start playing for me and no one else. I found out the hard way though, that the people around you can still hear you singing along to the song. It's almost like wearing earbuds.

I sat there like that for a few minutes more when the sound of gunfire and people punching each other was heard from outside my cell's bars. When the noise finally stopped, I was greeted by a very handsome man at my door. He had a tall strong physique to him, with dark brown hair, light blue eyes, and he was dressed like he had just come home from World War Two. And don't even get me started on the smile he gave me; just don't.

"You must be Symphony," the man said as he opened my door.

"The one and only," I said, "And you are?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said before bringing my hand up for a kiss. I blushed and smiled like a giddy schoolgirl on her first date.

"Jack, what did the Doctor tell you about flirting?" a familiar voice reminded him.

"I wasn't paying attention, Professor Song," he said winking at me, which caused my face to resemble for all I know, a tomato. I finally snapped out of it and peeked around the cell wall to find River standing at the end of the hallway. Her all over the place curly blonde hair was pulled back, and she had her blaster primed to fire.

"Hello, River," I said, "Did the Doctor tell you that I'm Emily?"

"Yes, he did," she said, "Come on, we've got to get out of here." We ran back down the hallway to the elevator, and began our way down to the main deck.

"Are you sure we'll have enough time?" Jack asked River.

"Easily," she answered, "All those soldiers should be out for another ten minutes." We finally reached the bottom floor to find hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers lying unconscious on the ground.

"I guess you were pretty busy," I said. Looking up from the ground, I could just make out the royal blue color of the TARDIS, and start in a full on sprint towards it. I was about ten feet or so away when I tripped over a stray piece of piping.

"I'm okay!" I said sticking my thumb into the air. River and Jack helped me to my feet, and together we entered the TARDIS. The Doctor was working feverishly at the controls, and when he looked up to see me, he immediately enveloped me in a tight hug.

"I missed you too, Doctor," I said, "but I can't breathe with you crushing me like this." His hold on me loosened, and the look in his eyes went from happiness to disbelief.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" River asked.

"It's too easy," he said, "The Silence would never give Symphony up that easily."

"You're right, Doctor," Kovarian said from the monitor, "It won't be easy getting Symphony out of here alive.

"Kovarian, I swear if you've harmed her in any way," the Doctor started.

"Oh, don't waste your breath on threats you won't preform, Doctor," Kovarian said, "You'll be too preoccupied with your Symph to worry about me."

"What's she talking about?" I asked, "I feel fine!" As if jinxing myself, there was a sudden and agonizing pain in my head, causing me to topple like a domino.

"Symphony!" the three called out rushing to me. I could only wail out in response.

"What's wrong with her?" Jack asked. The Doctor soniced me as I curled into a ball, sobbing my eyes out.

"I don't know! It's like her mind is going haywire!" the Doctor answered.

"Doctor, it hurts!" I managed to say.

"Don't worry, Symph," he said, "You're going to be fine."

"What do we do, Doctor?" River asked him. He was silent for a moment, as if he was planning something.

"River, you need to get us somewhere calm, perhaps the Eye of Orion would be best. Jack, take Symphony into the med-bay and make sure she's sedated. That'll keep her mind from being in less pain than it already is, and it'll let me get a better look. I'll be with you in about five minutes or less." Jack nodded, scooped me up in his arms, and started running to the med-bay. Once we were in, he gently set me down on one of the beds and ran over to get an I.V prepared. After a few minutes, Jack came back over to my bedside, a needle in one hand and the other waiting for my wrist. I reached out a shaky hand for Jack to take hold of. I could tell Jack was trying to be delicate with me in my current state, so as carefully as he could manage, he inserted the I.V into my wrist. It was almost instant how suddenly exhausted I was. _Here we go again, _I thought as my eyes slid shut, _Back to Dizzy Dreamland._

After what seemed like ages, I was somewhat close to fully awake. Sure I couldn't open my eyes, but I could hear everything that was going on around me. I heard the creak of a wooden chair as someone sat down and held my hand, and the sound of pacing high heels on a tile floor.

"Are you sure she'll be okay? She's been out for two days already, Doctor," River said. She must've been the one who was pacing.

"River, these things take time," the Doctor said, "Symphony was able to resist to becoming my murderess, and holding out on your own against those thoughts being drilled into your head takes incredible strength. But that was only while she was on Demon's Run. We get her back into the TARDIS, and she just went haywire; as if her thoughts were turning against herself. It's not surprising that she's been asleep for this long." There was silence for a few minutes, when River finally spoke up.

"What are you not telling me, Doctor?" she asked, "I know when you're keeping information from me."

"I've told you everything I know about Symphony," the Doctor said.

"Sweetie, you really are a bad liar sometimes," River said, "There's something different about her, isn't there?" I could tell that the Doctor was hesitating from the way he squeezed my hand.

"Okay, there's more," he admitted, "Symphony isn't a full fledged Time Lady. She's got a very small amount of human DNA in her."

"Is that bad?" River asked.

"No, it's not bad. She's got all the traits of a normal Time Lady who's five-hundred seventeen years old, meaning she can regenerate and she has two hearts, but I think from all that time she spent under the influence of the Chameleon Arch as a human, it sort of tweaked her DNA just a tick." he explained. Whoa, whoa, whoa, back this TARDIS up a few millennia. Did he just say that I was over five hundred years old?!

"How exactly was her DNA tweaked?" River said. I couldn't see, but I think she put air quotes around the word 'tweaked'.

"Well, whenever she regenerates, only her physical form will change, not her personality, which I personally think is a plus. It's like with one of my old friends, Donna Noble. She became part Time Lord part human along with the metacrisis I left with Rose. Symphony is able to see patterns in things that I can't see, her way of thinking is more creative than your average Time Lord, and she'll stay the same quirky girl who became the equivalent of a sister to me for the rest of her life," the Doctor said.

"Okay," River said, satisfied with the explanations given to her, "I just have one more thing to say, Doctor before I go."

"What is it, River?" he asked.

"Take care of Symphony. Like you said, she's like the sister you never had. Protect her, keep her on the TARDIS with you, and above all, don't let her out of your sight," she said.

"Why are you telling me all of this? Not that I won't do any of the things you listed off," he said, "What's got you so protective about Symph?"

"Spoilers," River said before a zap was heard. Apparently, my mind only wanted me to tune in for that part of the conversation because as soon as River was gone, I was out like a light.

When I finally woke up for real this time, I was back in my bedroom. My mind was clear as day, and I was ready for a real adventure this time. Leaping out of bed, I ran to the console room with newly discovered energy to find the Doctor working at the controls.

"Morning," I said jostling him from the controls. He looked up to me and smiled.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Loads, thanks," I answered.

"Glad to hear that," he said, "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"

"We were about to start the search for Clara Oswin Oswald," I said with a smile.

"Well then," he started pulling a lever, "Better get started!"

**Yay I updated at last! I'm so sorry for not being punctual with my chapters as of late! School really has been a killer, and I just got back from a retreat, and quite simply I haven't had time to write at all over the past few weeks! Anyways, next we're going to begin The Bells of St John! Woohoo! I'll try to be more punctual next time, but I make no promises! I really hope that the gaps between updates don't keep y'all from reading the rest of the story! Anywho, see y'all in the WiFi! ****_I don't know where I am... _****o_O**


	7. Killer WiFi?

**Killer WiFi?**

_Cumbria, 1207_

I paced across the dimly lit room as the Doctor painted his seventeenth picture of Clara, and it wasn't even noon yet! How was he acting so calm about this? And how in the universe was he being so patient?!

"Okay, we've looked in the past, the present, and the future, and we have yet to find her," I said, "How have you not gone mad yet?"

"Getting a bit impatient, are you?" the Doctor said as he set the paintbrush down on the easel.

"I thought it was pretty obvious," I said, "I'm acting worse than you were through the whole cube fiasco!" Clearly not acknowledging my remark, the Doctor sat down in a chair and began to think aloud.

"How can she be the same woman both times and die saving my life both times as well? It doesn't make sense!" he said. There was a knock at the door followed by two men, one much older than the other entering.

"I'm sorry to intrude," the older man said, "The bells of St. John are ringing." The Doctor immediately perked up at the mention of those words, but I was confused as to what they meant. He got up from his chair, pulled off his hood, and looked at the two men.

"I'm going to need a horse," he said before dragging me out the back door with him to the stables.

"After two months of staying here, we finally have something interesting going on!" I exclaimed as I climbed onto my horse.

"Symphony, I think you've gone mad," the Doctor said climbing on behind me.

"All the best people are!" I defended, "And you're example A."

"You've been reading too much Alice In Wonderland," he remarked, "Do you remember where we parked?"

"Yeah," I said before we galloped out with the younger of the two men who greeted us behind on a different horse.

One ride into the woods later, the first thing we heard was the ring of a telephone. We dismounted our horses, and the other monk led us down into the small cavern by torchlight. I walked cautiously down the steep staircase which gave way to a small alcove where the TARDIS stood. She was the one responsible for the phone noise.

"Oh, I get it," I said noticing the 'St John's Ambulance' sticker on the right side of the TARDIS, "The Bells of St John; clever."

"That is not supposed to happen!" the Doctor said before rushing over to the phone cabinet. He pulled open the small door, reached in for the phone, and talked into it.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Ah, hello. I can't find the internet," the distinct voice of Clara said. My eyes bugged out of their sockets.

"Sorry?" the Doctor said, more surprised at the mention the internet.

"Must be present day," I thought aloud.

"It's gone, the internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it?" Clara asked.

"The internet?" the Doctor asked, still surprised.

"Yes, the internet. Why don't I have the internet?" Clara asked again, slightly annoyed that she wasn't getting a straight answer.

"It's 1207!" he said.

"I've got half past three," she said, "Am I phoning a different time zone?"

"You couldn't have been righter, Clara," I said. The Doctor turned to me when her name left my mouth.

"Could you hold on for a minute?" he said before setting the phone down and looking to me, "That was Clara?"

"Yes," I said.

"Our Clara?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, "Same voice. You miss out on the most obvious things, don't you?" There was a look of fake annoyance on his face before he picked the phone up again.

"Sorry for putting you on hold. I was conversing with a colleague," he said.

"It's fine. So, why isn't there internet. Shouldn't it sort of be there?" Clara asked.

"I'm not sure why you're not getting a signal, but I'm sending someone over to help you out. Is that okay?" he asked looking at me.

"Yes, that would be marvelous. Thank you," she said.

"Great. Have a nice day," he said before hanging up.

"And so we'll be off?" I asked.

"Yes, yes we will," he said as we entered the TARDIS, "I'll just trace the signal from the call into the TARDIS coordinates, and..." he trailed off before pushing buttons and pulling switches, "We should be right in her front garden!"

"I'll be back in a moment's notice," I said, "Computers are a section of my expertise." I exited the doors, and walked up to the front door, knocked, and was greeted by the spitting image of Clara Oswin Oswald.

"Well, that certainly was quick," she said, "Are you here about the internet?"

"That's me! I'm Symphony," I said shaking her hand.

"What a lovely name. Come in, please," she said. I entered the house and followed Clara up to her room, where she showed me her laptop.

"See? No internet," she said. I looked closer at the laptop, tried entering Internet Explorer, and seeing as it wouldn't work, turned back to Clara.

"You did click the WiFi button, right?" I asked.

"Never thought of that," Clara said. I fought the urge to facepalm. She was a computer genius in the Dalek Asylum, and now she's lost with one! What's up with that?

"Click on the WiFi, and there's gonna be a list of network names. Once you see one you recognize, click it," I explained. She clicked the icon, and I was intrigued by a network's name. It was nothing but a bunch of cryptic and alien looking characters.

"It's asking me for a password," Clara said clicking on the network named 'Matiland_Family'. A dark skinned teenager with curly black hair peeped through the door.

"Is is okay if I go and see Nina? You can call her mum," the girl said, before looking to me, "Who's she?"

"Symphony, meet Angie. Angie meet Symphony," Clara said, "What's the password for the internet?"

"RYCBAR123," Angie said.

"How am I supposed to remember that?" Clara asked following Angie out to the stairs. I decided to call the Doctor from my phone at that time.

"How's it going, Symph?" he asked.

"Pretty well," I said, "One things that's weird is that Oswin was a genius with computers, right?"

"Well, she was a dalek," the Doctor said, "But yes, she was a computer genius. Go on?"

"Well, this Clara isn't very skilled with them," I said before she walked through the door, "Sorry, can't talk now, gotta dash, but don't hang up."

"What?" was all I could hear the Doctor say before I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.

"Who was that?" Clara asked as she sat down at her desk.

"My colleague. You might've just spoke to him on the phone," I said.

"Oh," she said before typing in the password and saying, "Run you clever boy and remember, one two three."

"What did you say?" the Doctor's voice shouted from my pocket.

"Don't shout!" Clara said.

"It wasn't me," I said.

"Well, whatever it was it made me type it wrong. What do I do? How do I get back in?" she asked.

"Just do what you did the first time, and type the password correctly," I said, "I think I forgot to hang up my phone and he heard you say something. Sorry."

"It's fine," she said.

"Actually, would you mind if I checked something out on my laptop downstairs? I'll just me a mo," I said.

"Sure," she said. Pulling my laptop out of my messenger bag, I walked downstairs, and looked at the networks. Sure enough, the same cryptic characters were on the drop down menu. I knew that I shouldn't have clicked it the moment more cryptic characters started appearing on my networks menu. Freaking out, I slammed my laptop shut and shoved it back into my bag. I was about to settle back into the couch, when an unearthly banging was heard from the door.

"Hello? Yes, I hear you," Clara said as the knocking continued, "Yep, ah ha. Hello?" She opened the door to be greeted by the Doctor still in his monk's robes. I knew it was right for me to wear modern day clothes today!

"Clara," he said, "Clara Oswald."

"Hello," Clara responded.

"Clara Oswin Oswald," he repeated.

"Just Clara Oswald. What was that middle one?" she asked.

"Do you remember me?" he asked in return with a wide grin. Clara just looked at him confusedly. _Why is there a monk in my house? _she was probably thinking.

"No," she said causing the Doctor to deflate, "Should I? Who are you?"

"The Doctor! No? The Doctor?" he asked looking in the mirror for some reason.

"Doctor who?" Clara asked.

"Just the Doctor," I answered for him.

"Actually, sorry, could you start that all again?" he asked.

"Could I what?" she asked.

"Could you just ask me that question again?" he clarified.

"Doctor who?" she asked. The Doctor smiled as the question was asked.

"Okay, just once more?" he asked.

"Doctor who?" Clara repeated, slightly confused as to why the Doctor liked hearing that question. I'll admit, I was a bit confused by it too.

"Ooo, yeah. Ooo. Do you know, I never realized how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud. Thank you," he said.

"Okay," Clara said before slamming the door shut.

"Way to go, Doctor. You've managed to freak out a person, again," I murmured. The Doctor went back to knocking on the door.

"Hey, no, Clara! Please! Clara, I need to talk to you! Listen! Please!" he called. Clara just sat on the stairs for a few minutes as he kept knocking on the door.

"Any questions?" I asked her.

"Is he mad?" she asked.

"Mad as a hatter," I answered, "But in a good way." She smiled.

"Please, I just need to speak to you," the Doctor said, kind of worn out from all his knocking. Clara finally rose from her spot and turned on some kind of outdoor video chat thing. The Doctor waved into the camera.

"Why are you still here?" Clara asked him.

"Oi, you phoned us. You were looking for the internet," he said.

"That was you?" she asked looking from me back to the screen.

"Of course it was me!" the Doctor said.

"How did you get here so fast?" she asked.

"We just happened to be in the neighborhood, on my mobile phone," he answered gesturing to the TARDIS.

"When you say mobile phone, why do you point at that blue box?" Clara asked.

"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description," the Doctor said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay, we're finished now," Clara said turning off the screen.

"Oi, no, don't," the Doctor said before walking off.

"You were right, he is mad as a hatter," Clara said to me. Before I could say a word, a door upstairs slammed shut. The floorboards began to creak as someone walked across them.

"Angie? Angie, are you upstairs?" Clara asked the noise, "Angie, are you still here?" We were greeted by not Angie, but a young pale girl in a light pink dress with black dress shoes walking down the stairs to face us.

"Hello," I said.

"Hello," the girl replied.

"Are you a friend of Angie's?" Clara asked.

"I'm a friend of Angie's," the girl said.

"What were you doing upstairs?" I asked.

"I was upstairs," she said. Okay, this was starting to freak and creep me out at the same time.

"I know you, don't I?" Clara asked.

"You know me, don't you?" the girl parroted. Suddenly, her head began to turn slowly, revealing a silver concave shaped thing where the back of here head should've been. The thing's head clicked into place as I was frantically banging on the door.

"Doctor! Doctor help us!" I shouted before turning back to the figure. Looking closer at the concave part of the head, I could faintly make out what looked like the screen of a computer when something was being downloaded. That was the last thing I saw before my world went topsy turvy and a very bright light blue color, if I might say.

"Where am I?" I asked getting no response, "Can anybody tell me where I am? I don't know where I am! Doctor, where am I? Please, somebody tell me where I am because I am freaking out now!" I felt like I was being pulled into some place, but something else was pulling me back. I was the rope in a heated match of hostile tug of war.

"Not this time, girls. I promise," the Doctor said from one end.

"Can you stop this?" a man's voice asked from the other end.

"No," a different man replied. The tug on one one side slacked and the tug on the end of the Doctor got stronger. I soon felt myself being hurled back into my body in a ray of blue light.

My eyes shot wide open but soon drooped partially closed and I gasped loudly when I was back to normal. My hearts were racing, my thoughts were scrambled, and quite honestly, I felt like I had just woken up from a terrible nightmare.

"Okay. It's okay, it's okay. You're fine. You're back. Both of you," the Doctor said.

"Word of advice, Doctor. Never use free WiFi," I said. I could barely see the smile he gave me before promptly giving in to exhaustion.


	8. Starting Fresh

**Starting Fresh**

When I woke up, I found myself lying on the couch in Clara's house. Looking out the window, I noticed that it was the middle of the night, so I must've been asleep for a long time because the sun was shining last I checked. I stood from my spot, grabbed my messenger bag, and I was about to walk out the door when Clara came from out of the kitchen holding two cups of tea and a chair.

"You too?" she asked opening the door.

"Yep," I answered, "I don't think I'll be using my computer for awhile after this." We walked out to greet the Doctor together. He was currently disassembling that spoonhead thing that nabbed us.

Apparently while we were inside the WiFi monster, the Doctor changed his outfit. What was once a tan jacket with elbow patches was now a longer purple coat without patches. Even his bow tie was a darker color.

"I like your house," the Doctor told Clara.

"It isn't mine," she replied, "I'm a friend of the family." She handed the Doctor one of the cups.

"But you look after the kids. Oh yes, you're a governess, aren't you? Just like..." the Doctor trailed off.

"Just like what?" Clara asked.

"Just like a friend of ours," I said, cleaning up the awkwardness, "Now, Doctor. What happened to us?" The Doctor sat down in his seat and leaned in toward us.

"There's something in the WiFi," he said.

"Okay," Clara said.

"We guessed that when it tried to kill us!" I added.

"This whole world is swimming in WiFi. We're living in a WiFi soup. Suppose something got inside it. Suppose there was something living in the WiFi, harvesting human minds. Extracting them. Imagine that," he explained, "Human souls trapped like flies in the worldwide web. Stuck forever, crying out for help."

"Isn't that basically Twitter?" Clara asked, jokingly.

"Or for a terrifyingly accurate example, Tumblr?" I guessed, "I mean, there are some pretty messed up people on that place." The Doctor looked up from what he was typing with a serious face.

"What's that face for?" Clara asked.

"A computer can hack another computer. A living sentient computer, that could maybe hack people. Edit them. Rewrite them," the Doctor said.

"Why would you say that?" she asked innocently.

"Well, a few hours ago you were completely lost on your computer, and now you made a joke about Twitter," I said, "Hashtag freaky."

"Oh," Clara said before actually thinking about what had happened, "Oh, that's weird. I know all about computers now in my head. Where did all that come from?"

"You were both uploaded for awhile. Wherever you were, Clara, you brought something back, which I very much doubt you'll be allowed to keep," the Doctor turned to the lamppost to see a man standing under it, "The three of us inside that box, now." Clara looked at the Doctor like he just asked her to do show tunes with him in the middle of Grand Central Station. And yes, that has happened before.

"I'm sorry?" she asked, not moving from her chair.

"Look, just get inside," the Doctor urged.

"All three of us?" Clara asked.

"No complaints from me, Doctor! I don't plan on getting eaten by the Internet twice in the same day," I said rushing into the box, only to run right into the closed doors, "But that would be easier if you, perhaps, unlocked it!" I rose to my feet and moved back as the Doctor began to unlock the TARDIS.

"Oh, trust me. You'll understand once we're all in there," the Doctor said.

"I bet I will," Clara said almost flirtatiously, causing the Doctor to gasp.

"Clara, please!" he said, still flabbergasted by the tone of voice used in what was just said.

"What is that box anyways? Why do you have a box?" Clara asked, "Is it like a snogging booth?" The last question made me raise my eyebrows.

"A what?" the Doctor and I asked simultaneously.

"Is that what you do, bring a booth? And you take two girls at a time? There is such a thing as too keen," she said taking a sip from her mug. I almost went as red as a rose from the second question. Me and the Doctor kissing? Sure there was that one time on the Silurian Arch, but that was just in the excitement of the moment. Right? No, I shouldn't be second guessing myself. I heard the Doctor himself say that he thought of me as one of his closest friends, nothing more. And I was happy with that.

"Girls, look around you," the Doctor instructed. The bedroom lights of all the houses in the suburb we were in were turning on.

"What's going on? What's happening? Is the WiFi switching on the lights?" Clara asked in a hurry.

"The people are switching on the lights," I said.

"The WiFi is switching on the people," the Doctor finished. I looked back over to the man at the lamppost whose head began turning like the girl from earlier.

"What is that thing?" Clara asked.

"A walking base station like the one you two saw earlier," the Doctor said.

"I saw a little girl," Clara corrected.

"A creepy little girl," I specified.

"It must have taken an image from your subconscious, thrown it back at you," he said before smacking his forehead, "Ah! Active camouflage!" He then turned to us.

"They could be everywhere," he said in almost a whisper. I turned just in time to see all of the lights in London switching off. The entire city was turning as black as the night sky.

"Now, I've never been to London, so correct me if I'm wrong, but is that supposed to happen?" I asked pointing to the city.

"No, that's not normal," Clara said, "What's going on? Our lights are on and everyone else's off. Why?" The Doctor and I looked up into the sky to see a plane flying towards us.

"Some planes have WiFi," he said.

"Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking, Doctor," I said.

"I'm afraid so, Symph," he said.

"I'm sorry?" Clara said.

"We must be one hell of a target right now," the Doctor said taking our hands, "Us, box, right now." With those words, he pulled us into the TARDIS. Words cannot describe the surprised look on Clara's face when she entered. The Doctor immediately got to work at the controls, and I joined in helping him.

"Yes, it's a spaceship. Yes, it's bigger on the inside. No, I don't have time to talk about it," the Doctor said as Clara kept gawking at the TARDIS.

"But, but, but," she managed to stammer.

"Shut up, please. Short hops are difficult," he said running over to another control panel.

"Geez, you don't have to be so rude, Doctor," I said.

"Bigger on the inside. Actually bigger," Clara said. The TARDIS landed as the Doctor took our hands and led us to the door.

"Right, come on," he said.

"We're going back out there?" Clara asked.

"We've moved. It's a spaceship. We flew away," he answered.

"Away from the plane?" she asked.

"Depends on what you mean by 'away'," I answered swinging the doors open to the inside of the plane. We were nosediving right into the neighborhood, but we still had a good distance before impact.

"How did we get here?" Clara asked.

"It's a ship. I told you. It's all very sciency!" the Doctor shouted moving his way up to the cockpit.

"This is the plane? The actual plane? Are they all dead?" she asked moving up behind me. The Doctor gripped a row of seats in order to escape from tumbling back into us.

"Asleep. Switched off by the WiFi!" he shouted, "Never mind them!" He had finally reached the cockpit, and by the time Clara and I were with him, he was already sonicing the controls. I soniced them as well.

"What's going on? Is this real? Please tell me what is happening!" Clara asked on the verge of panic.

"I'm the Doctor, that's Symphony. We're aliens from outer space. I'm a thousand years old, she's five hundred years old, we've got to hearts, and we can't fly a plane!" the Doctor rounded off, "Can you?"

"No!" Clara answered.

"Oh, fine. Well, let's do it together," he said pulling up on the steering device. Clara and I were each grasping one of his shoulders for dear life, and the three of us were screaming like we were in a horror movie. Luckily, we were able to elevate the plane enough in order for it not to crash into the neighborhood.

"That," I breathed, "was the stuff of movies."

"Whoo! Would a victory roll be too showy offy?" the Doctor asked us.

"Yes, Doctor. It would," I told him.

"What the hell's going on?" the pilot asked, now waking up.

"Well, I'm blocking your WiFi, so you're waking up for a start," the Doctor said sonicing the controls of the plane, "Tell you what, do you want to drive?" The Doctor walked back down the hall, leaving Clara and I for a split second to catch our breath before pulling us back by our coat collars.

"Give us a moment to regroup will ya?" I asked being nearly dragged back to the TARDIS with Clara. The eyes of every person on the plane were watching our every move.

"You'll have time to regroup in a bit," the Doctor said, opening the doors and releasing his grip on us. The two of us walked up to the console. Clara took a swig of her tea, and set the mug down next to the Time Rotor. She brought it with her?

"Okay. When are the two of you going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" she asked us. The TARDIS lurched to a stop.

"Breakfast," the Doctor said before running to the door.

"What? I ain't waiting till breakfast!" Clara argued.

"The TARDIS is a time machine, Clara," I said, "You don't have to wait for anything ever again."

"Which is good considering how impatient she was over The House of Hades," the Doctor added walking out the doors. I heard applause coming from outside the doors, so I followed with Clara behind me. More applause came at our appearance.

"Thank you, thank you. Yes, magic blue box. All donations gratefully accepted," the Doctor pulled his fez out from his back pocket, "Roll up, give us your dosh. Pennies, pounds, anything you've got," he handed the fez to Clara, "Keep collecting. We need enough for breakfast. Just popping back to the garage." The Doctor had gone back into the TARDIS, when Clara looked up in shock.

"Garage?" she asked me.

"Bigger on the inside. Keep that in mind," I reminded her. People kept coming up and tossing spare change into the fez.

"So this is tomorrow, then. Tomorrow's come early," Clara said. The Doctor came out of the box on a motorcycle wearing a helmet, gloves, and goggles. And when I looked behind the motorcycle, I saw a TARDIS blue moped being dragged behind.

"No, it came at the usual time. We just took a shortcut," the Doctor said handing me a helmet as more people cheered, "Thank you, thank you. Tomorrow, a camel!" I mounted the moped and sped off in front of the motorcycle.

"Oh no you don't!" the Doctor called. Hearing the rev of an engine, I looked in my rear view mirror to see the Doctor and Clara coming up behind me. They came up next to me as we sped through London.

"Hello, again," I said.

"Enjoying yourself?" the Doctor asked.

"Yep!" I called over.

"Good," he said, "Still means I'm gonna beat you to the cafe, but I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. I raised my eyebrows as his confidence.

"Is that a challenge, Doctor?" I asked.

"You bet, Symph," he replied. He sped forward causing Clara to yelp, and I happened to notice a big green button in the center of the controls. Upon pressing this button, I sped through the mid-morning traffic at supersonic speeds.

"Woohoo!" I shouted all the way to the cafe where I finally came to a stop. Ten minutes passed by the time the motorcycle finally pulled up to the curb. The Doctor had a look of unbelief on his face as they dismounted.

"How?" was all he could say.

"You really should've learned not to challenge me to a race by now, Doctor," I laughed.

"I'm sorry, has this happened before?" Clara asked as we walked up the stairs.

"Many, many times on Mariokart," I revealed, "For some reason, the Doctor absolutely loves coming in second place."

"Symphony, please! It's not my fault that whenever I get the lead some blue shell decides to explode on my cart!" the Doctor defended like a child. I laughed more and Clara laughed with me. When we reached the top floor of the cafe, the smell of brewing coffee overtook me.

"So, what do you two want?" the Doctor asked Clara and I, "It's on me."

"Does this place have White Chocolate Mochas?" I asked. It was the first type of coffee I had ever drunk, and it had become my favorite.

"I think so," he answered, "Anything for you, Clara?"

"Just a milkshake for me, thanks," she said.

"Okay," he said, "Go out to the balcony and find a place to sit. I've gotta get cracking on just exactly who sent the walking base station."

Clara and I left the Doctor in the line and walked out to the balcony and we found the perfect spot. Three seats, right at the edge looking out over London, and enough room to actually accomodate for the three of us. This was good for the Doctor. I was glad that he was finally beginning to act sort of like his old self again, but he was still a bit darker than before. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was wearing darker colors than before.


	9. A New Companion

**A New Companion**

As soon as the Doctor came back out with our coffees, he set to work on hacking the security. We were sitting in an awkward silence for quite some time until Clara finally spoke up.

"So if we can travel anywhere in time and space, why did we travel to the morning. What's the point in that?" she asked.

"One thing I've learned when traveling with the Doctor, is that it's usually without purpose. Just flying through on a whimsy," I said.

"Yes, that would be right for most of the time, but for now I actually have a reason," the Doctor said, "Whoever's after us spent half the night looking for us. Are either of you tired?"

"Yes," Clara answered.

"Which is why you should've gotten a coffee," I replied, taking a sip of mine.

"Well, then imagine how they feel. They came the long way round," he added, continuing to try to hack into the security, "They've got to be close. Definitely London going by the signal distribution. I can hack the lowest level of their operating system, but I can't establish a physical location. The security's too good."

"Are you an alien?" Clara asked.

"I am, and so is Symphony. Okay with that?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. Think I'm fine," she replied.

"Oh, good," he said. Clara took another sip from her shake, trying to get the last of it out from the bottom of the glass.

"So, what's gonna happen when we find out who's controlling the WiFi? Do we bring them to justice?" I asked.

"I don't know. I can't tell the future, I just work there," he answered.

"You don't have a plan?" Clara asked.

"Oh, you know what I always say about plans," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't have one," he said. I laughed.

"That's gotta be one of the truest statements I've ever heard someone say," I snickered.

"Oh, hush you," he mumbled.

"Not gonna happen, Doc," I said.

"Are you two siblings or something?" Clara asked. The Doctor and I glanced at each other, then looked at Clara.

"What?" he asked.

"The way you two argue with each other; I've only seen Angie and Artie argue like that. So, I thought you two were brother and sister," she replied.

"Do we look related to each other?" I asked, making a hand motion from my face to the Doctor's face.

"No," Clara replied.

"We're just good friends, that's all," the Doctor said, then shut the laptop, "And about the kids, how long have you been looking after them?" Clara gave the answer a bi of thought.

"About a year, since their mum died," she answered. That was how long the Clara from Victorian London had been looking after Captain Latimer's children as well. This was getting stranger and stranger by the minute!

"Okay. Why you? Family friend, I get that, but there must've been others. Why did it have to be you?" the Doctor asked, "You don't really seem like a nanny." Clara was clearly uncomfortable with the topic because she didn't answer. Instead, she made a grab for her laptop from the Doctor.

"Gimme," she said. The Doctor pulled it back from her.

"Sorry. What?" he asked.

"You need to know where they physically are. Their exact location," she said.

"Yes," he replied. Clara snatched the laptop away again.

"I can do it," she said.

"Oi, hang on. I need that," he said, taking the laptop back.

"You've hacked the lower operating system, yeah?" she asked, "I'll have their physical location in under five minutes. Pop off and get us a coffee."

"If I can't find them, you definitely can't," the Doctor said, continuing the tug of war over the laptop.

"They uploaded me, remember? I've got computing stuff in my head!" Clara retorted.

"So do I," he argued.

"I have insane hacking skills," she said.

"I'm from space and the future with two hearts and..." he trailed off, "twenty seven brains."

"And I can find them in under five minutes plus pictures," she said, then turned to me, "Twenty seven?"

"He'll say anything to win an argument," I revealed.

"Okay, slight exaggeration," the Doctor added.

"Coffee, go get. Five minutes. I promise," Clara said. She opened the laptop and started typing away furiously.

"The security is absolute," the Doctor mused.

"But anything on the Internet is free game for hackers," I said. Clara was still typing when the Doctor got up and started walking in from the balcony. He stopped and looked at Clara again. She noticed and looked back at him.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asked.

"Sorry, no, it's nothing. It's just, you're a nanny. Isn't that a bit well, Victorian?" he rambled.

"Victorian?" Clara asked.

"Way to make it subtle, Doc," I said.

"Well, you're young. Shouldn't you be doing young things?" he asked, doing a little dance, "With young people?"

"You mean like you, for instance? Down, boy," Clara said playfully. The Doctor; however, thought that he'd actually offended her.

"No. No. I didn't," he started apologizing, then realized she was joking, "Shut up!" Clara and I giggled a bit before getting back to work.

"Symphony! I need you to help me with the drinks!" he called. I sighed and rose from my seat.

"I'd better go. He'll probably end up getting our drinks mixed up again," I said. Clara was too involved in hacking to respond, so I just walked back in. Seeing the Doctor already in line, I quickly walked over to him.

"Two more cappuccinos and a white mocha over there, please," he ordered.

"One moment, sir," the barista replied.

"So, why did you call me in here?" I asked the Doctor as he picked up some kind of pastry.

"I thought I might spill the coffees," he said.

"You realize you haven't the slightest chance of saving your little friend," the barista said.

"Come again?" I asked, curious and also freaked out.

"I said one moment, ma'am," the barista replied, then a light blue light flashed, and he faced the pair of us, "I said, there's not the slightest chance of saving your little friend. And don't annoy the old man. He isn't in fact speaking." The barista got back to his work as if nothing had even happened.

"I'm speaking. Just using whatever's to hand," a waitress behind us said, "Oh, she's rather pretty, isn't she? Do you like her? I can make her like you, too, if you want." The waitress was relinquished and looked confused as to why the Doctor was standing so close to her.

"You all right, sir?" she asked.

"Er, yes. Yes. Fine," the Doctor stammered, handing the waitress the pastry. He then dragged me back outside with him.

"How's the hacking going, Clara?" I asked.

"Pretty good. Setting up stuff. Need a user name," she replied, not taking her vision away from the screen.

"Learning fast," the Doctor remarked.

"Clara Oswald for the win," she said, then figured out a pun, "Oswin!" The Doctor and I walked back into the cafe, and the waitress came up to us.

"Now I want you to take a look around. Go on, both of you. Have a little stroll, and see how impossible your situation really is," she said, "Go on, take a look. I do love showing off." She walked away back to normal again.

"It's the WiFi, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," the Doctor replied. We walked further into the cafe and stopped in front of the sitting area. A little blonde girl rose from her seat and faced us.

"Just let me show you what control of the WiFi can do for one," the girl said, "Stop!" On command, everyone within range froze mid-movement, like they were paused on a television screen. The Doctor looked around and smiled.

"I saw what you can do last night," he said.

"And clear," the girl said. Everyone in the cafe immediately left.

"Impressive," I said, "Evil, but impressive." I'll admit, the whole control over the WiFi was absolutely brilliant! I mean, sure it was downright awful, but it was a very cool concept. I smell a Science Fiction novel about this.

"We can hack anyone in the WiFi once they've been exposed long enough," the news lady on the TV said.

"So there's one of your walking base stations here, somewhere close," the Doctor said.

"There's always someone close. We've released thousands into the world," the lady said, "They home in on the WiFi like rats sniffing cheese."

"So your plan is to create more walking base stations to control the whole of humanity," I said, "I would compliment, but I'm not evil." The Doctor was about ready to go all Batman crazy on these people. I could see it in his eyes.

"I don't know who you are or why you're doing this, but the people of this world will not be harmed. They will not be controlled. They will not be-" the Doctor was cut off.

"The people of this world are in no danger whatsoever. My client requires a steady diet of human minds. Healthy, free range, human minds," she said, "He loves and cares for humanity. In fact he can't get enough of it."

"Well, if you're client has a craving for human minds, why did you try to take mine? I'm not human," I said, "In fact, I'm a Time Lady."

"You were merely in the way," the woman replied.

"It's obscene. It's murder," the Doctor said.

"It's life. The farmer tends to his flock like a loving parent," she said, "The abattoir is not a contradiction. No one loves cattle more than Burger King." The Doctor took a few steps closer to the television screen.

"This ends," he said, "I'm going to end this today."

"How? You don't even know where we are!" she said.

"Who's doing this? Who is your client? Hmm? Answer me," he ordered. The woman just smiled like she knew what was going to happen.

"Clara," I said, "It wants Clara!" I ran out the doors and back onto the balcony as Clara typed in the last bit of the hacking.

"Did you get it?" I asked.

"You bet!" she said. We hi-fived as the Doctor walked out. His face was devoid of any emotion.

"I did it. I really did. I did it," Clara said, "I did it. I found them."

"You found them," he said.

"The Shard. They're in the Shard. Floor sixty five," she said.

"Floor sixty five," he repeated.

"Are you listening to me, Doctor? I found them," she said.

"I'm listening to you. You found them," he said. I froze in my seat and looked up just in time to see the Doctor's head spin around, revealing the Walking Base Station. The blue light enveloped me, and I was sucked back into the WiFi.

"And here we go again," I said, "Look, if you don't want me, then just spit me out! I'm sure that's possible with all the technology you have! Just let me go!" As I hoped, I was placed back into my body, but I was pretty worn out from it.

"You hack people, but me? I'm old fashioned. I hack technology," the Doctor said, "Here's your motivation."

"You know, I think I'm making a habit of getting into trouble," I said.

"You're probably right, Symph," he said as he typed, "We should be ready to go now. The moped is still down there, right?"

"Yes," I said, "I'm driving though."

"Okay," he said. We walked down to the street, started up the moped and drove back to the TARDIS. Good thing I remembered the way back.

We drove into the control room slowly, parked the moped off to the side, and dismounted.

"I should probably take this back to the garage," I said, "Where was it again?" The Doctor pulled a lever sending us into flight.

"Just down that hallway and to the right," he said, pointing downstairs.

"Okay," I said, "I think I might turn in early. Getting sucked into the Internet is quite tiring."

"Fine by me. Goodnight, Symph," he said.

"Night, Doctor," I called back. Walking to my room from the garage, I kept thinking about what Clara had told us. Were the Doctor and I siblings? Well, last of the species, so I guess anything's possible.

**A/N: Sorry about the patchiness of posts as of late! Luckily next week I don't have any school, so I'll be pouring into the rest of this story! Thanks for sticking with me through the story! -The Raggedy Time Traveller**

**Ps: I never even asked. What do y'all think of the new pen name? It just came to mind one morning, and since it had a nice ring I decided to use it.**


	10. A Festival of Offerings

**A Festival Of Offerings**

I trudged to the control room still in my pajamas and robe to find the Doctor letting Clara into the TARDIS.

"Morning," I moaned, still a bit tired. I got no sleep whatsoever last night because of the Doctor's hurried, and quite noisy, deductions about who Clara was. The pair looked over, and I could clearly see Clara jump a little.

"Um, Symphony, you might want to have a look at your hair," the Doctor advised.

"Why? What's wrong with my..." I trailed off noticing my reflection in the Time Rotor. I looked like a ginger version of Frankenstein's Wife, in the simplest terms. My hair was jutting out in different places, and it was an uncontrollable mess. The sight made myself utter a squeak of surprise.

"I knew bed head would be a catastrophe with this one," I groaned, and trudged back down the hallway I came from, "If you need me, I'll be in my bedroom."

"I'll phone you when we've arrived!" the Doctor called down. I waved a hand back and reentered the mess of my room.

Clothes were in disarray and scattered all over the floor. The bed itself was a pile of blankets and pillows sort of mish mashed together, and my writing desk was a complete wreck from all the pen and marker stains on it. I really needed to clean up around here.

After getting my hair under control once again, I slipped into a pair of dark washed jeans, a purple 'Beauty and The Beast' T-Shirt, an army green jacket, and a pair of mid-calf brown boots. Not even bothering with makeup, I took my sonic in hand and walked through the portal.

"So, where do you want to go, eh? What do you want to see?" I heard the Doctor ask Clara. There was a moment's hesitation before she responded.

"I don't know," she said, "You know when asks you what's your favorite book and straight away you forget every single book that you've ever read?"

"No. Totally not," the Doctor responded.

"You have no idea how many times that has happened to me, Clara," I said, my head popping over the top floor.

"See? It's a thing that happens," she informed the Doctor. I walked up the rest of the stairs and over the them.

"And? Back to the question?" he asked.

"Okay. So. So. So," she started, "So I'd like to see. I would like to see. What I would like to see is, something awesome." The Doctor threw his hands into the air in approval of the description and feverishly worked at the controls. After a minute, we were both being led out of the doors with our eyes shut, the Doctor keeping a directive arm around us.

"Can you feel the light on your eyelids?" he asked.

"Yeah," I responded.

"That is the light of an alien sun. Forward a couple of steps," he said, nudging us both slightly forward, "Okay. Are you ready?"

"Yes," Clara said suddenly, "No. Yes." The silence that followed must've been our queue to open our eyes. We did so, and were greeted with the most picturesque sight.

Several asteroids drifted through the sky with one giant one orbiting an even larger red star. Even the sky was a stunning shade of crimson. By the look on Clara's face, I could tell that she was amazed, and so was I.

"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten," the Doctor introduced.

"It's-" she started.

"It is. It so completely is. But wait, there is more," he said.

"How can there be more to this? It's beautiful," I remarked.

"Just you wait, Symph," he said, then looked at his watch, "In about five, four, three, two." Before he could say 'one' a gleaming golden asteroid with a pyramid on the top revealed itself from behind a bit of stray space matter.

"What is it?" Clara asked.

"The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten. It's a holy sight for the Sun Singers of Akhet," he said.

"The who of what?" she asked.

"The Sun Singers of Akhet. They believe that all life in the universe originated right on that planet," I said.

"All life?" she asked.

"In the universe," I said again.

"Did it?" she inquired. Someone was quite curious.

"Well, it's what they believe. It's a nice story," the Doctor said

"Aren't we going to see it up close?" I asked. As an answer, the Doctor held out his hands. Clara and I glanced at each other, then without a moment's hesitation, we took them.

After we landed on the actual planet itself, the Doctor dragged the pair of us out into a bazaar teeming with aliens of different assortments. Several street vendors were set up all the way down the different streets dealing out foods, gems, and other knick knacks of varying kinds.

"Doctor, I feel like I'm in the middle of Star Wars or something," I remarked.

"Well, of course you would say that," he said, "These fellas are from the local system mostly."

"And what do we call them?" Clara asked.

"Well, let's see," he said, looking into the crowd then found some purple aliens with striking blue eyes selling pearls, "Ah! There go some Panbabylonians," then one with a bit of a large beak, "A Lugal-Irra-Kush," a couple of others, "Some Lucanians," and another, "A Hooloovoo," then, he ran up to one of the others and shared a greeting, "Ah! Qom VoTivig," The two of them did some kind of introduction which ended in a pelvic thrust, then he regrouped with Clara and I, "That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around any more. Oh!" he ran off towards a giant robot, "That's an Ultramancer!" I couldn't help but laugh with him.

"You're acting like a kid in a toy store!" I said.

"Well, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often!" he said, in defense.

"You've been here before?" Clara asked.

"I haven't, but evidently the Doctor has," I responded.

"Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter," he said before running off again. Clara turned to me with an unbelieving look in her brown eyes.

"He has grandchildren?" she asked, "More to the point, he has children?"

"A thousand years old, remember?" I said, "He must've had kids at some point." The two of us then ran off after him, or rather we started to run after him. An fish type of alien was standing in front of us, blocking our way. Shyly, we made our way around it, and began our chase once again.

By the time we had caught up with the Doctor, he was sonicing some glowing blue fruits of some kind.

"Exotic fruits of some description," he informed us, "Right. Non toxic, non hallucinogenic. High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder." Guessing they were okay to eat because they were being sold to the public, I plucked one from the basket and took a bite. Clara mimicked my acts. It tasted like a mixture of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I guess this was breakfast for today.

"So, why is everyone here?" Clara asked. We started walking as a group.

"For the Festival of Offerings. Takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align," the Doctor said, "It's quite a big thing locally, like Pancake Tuesday."

"Or maybe a town carnival," I tried. I turned around to be met with an alien who looked like a human, pit bull hybrid. And it sounded more like the latter when it barked at Clara and me.

"Doctor, a little help here please!" I called. It barked again. Lo and behold, the Doctor came rushing in and started yapping at the alien like my miniature schnauzer back at home.

"What's happening? Why's it angry?" Clara asked. He looked at us as if we had said something extremely rude.

"This isn't an it! It's a she! Doreen, meet Clara and Symphony. Clara, Symphony, meet Doreen," he said. Oh, we did say something rude.

"Doreen?" she asked. The TARDIS Translation Circuits must've gotten frazzled with the new desktop choice.

"Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy, but she's a total love actually, aren't you?" he said, scratching the underside of Doreen's chin like she was his pet.

"Last time you did this it was with a triceratops, and we were being followed by robots who had us at gunpoint!" I said.

"Sorry what?" Clara asked.

"Long story," I said.

"Anyways, she's just asking you two if we fancy renting a moped," he said. In response, Doreen barked and revealed a space age motorbike behind her. Clara barked and the Doctor beamed.

"Sounds like fun," I said, "How much?"

"Not money. Something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here," the Doctor explained, "Psychometry. Objects physically imprinted with their history. The more treasure they are, the more value they hold."

"That's horrible," Clara remarked.

"Better than using bits of paper," he said.

"Then one of you pay," she said.

"With what?" he asked.

"You're both hundreds of years old. One of you must have something you care about," she said. I looked into my bag and only found my sonic and iPhone. before I could check my jacket, I was pulled off by the Doctor.

"What about Clara?" I asked him.

"She'll be fine," he said, "What about you, eh? Are you having a good time?"

"I'm having an amazing time!" I said, grinning, "But I do have one question, though."

"And what might that be?" he asked, continuing to walk when I stopped.

"How different from a Time Lord am I?" I said. He tensed and walked back over to me.

"I heard part of the conversation between you and River after the Silence thing," I revealed, "It's been bugging me ever since." The Doctor hesitated for a moment before taking my hand in his.

"Right, well since you're probably going to keep asking me, I'll tell you the whole story now," he said.

"When did you first realize that I was different?" I asked, as a start.

"From the moment you first regenerated after finding your fob watch, and you asked me if you were a Time Lord, I knew something was unique about you, Symphony," he said, "Usually, Time Lords remember who they were right after opening their watches, so it was a bit of a surprise for me when you didn't know. And then in the dalek parliament, you said that the Time War took place when you were six years old, so I thought you were just too young to remember what you were. I kept going with that theory until the encounter with the Silence. The truth was revealed to both of us, it would seem, right then and there."

"So, the news was new to you too?" I asked, still wrapping my head around the whole thing.

"Yeah," he said, "One thing I'm still puzzled by is what Kovarian called you. She said you were the Symphony of Time and Space. What does that mean exactly?"

"Well, when you think about it from an obvious point of view, I'm Symphony, and I travel through Time and Space," I pointed out.

"No need to be sarcastic with me, Symph!" he said.

"I think you'll find that there is a need for it, Doc," I retorted, "You know why?"

"Why?" he asked. I crooked my finger for him to come a bit closer. He did so, and I took that moment to tap his shoulder and run off.

"You're it, that's why!" I shouted. I wasn't facing him, but I knew he had a playful smile on his face and he was catching up from the sound of running feet behind me. I quickly turned my head to see the Doctor with an outstretched hand coming up fast. Doubling my speed, I ducked into an abandoned building, throwing myself off the beaten path. Just like I planned, the Doctor lost track of me and soon gave up.

"That's cheating!" he complained to no one in particular.

"That's life, Doc!" I shouted before running further into the building.

After what seemed like a few minutes, I found myself alone in the quietness of what appeared to be a factory. There were dislodged pipes everywhere, some of it on the floor, and others were leaking some kind of gas.

There was barely any light, so I used my screwdriver as a torch, not guiding me as I walked backwards into the depths of the factory. When I collided with another person, I nearly jumped out of my skin, shouting into the echos. Luckily when I turned around, I was greeted by Clara.

"You scared me to death!" she scolded.

"Same to you!" I replied, "What are you doing in here?"

"Following someone," she said, "You?"

"Hiding from the Doctor," I answered, "Before you ask why, we were playing tag."

"Okay," she said, then pointed to the right, "This way?" I nodded, and together we delved further into the building.

**Ta Da! Chapter 10! Please give me your thoughts in the reviews, and a big thank you as always to everyone who has already favored and followed the story! -The Raggedy Time Traveller**


	11. The Queen of Years

**The Queen of Years**

Whatever Clara was searching for, it was a great hider. We had been searching the place for a really long time, when a sudden rattle of metal sent us flying out of our shoes.

"This is becoming routine for me," I remarked, "Getting scared out of my wits twice daily."

I turned around with Clara to find a little girl with long blonde hair, strange markings on her face, and golden and red pieces of clothing. She looked like she was of royal prestige, going by the slight trace of a crown that peeked out from the cloak she was under, and she seemed just as shaken up as we were. Then, for some reason, Clara and the girl began laughing for a bit. Once they stopped, Clara was the first to speak to the girl.

"Are you all right?" she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Hiding," the girl said quietly.

"Why?" I asked, "Are you playing a game with someone?"

"You don't know me?" the girl asked in return.

"Sorry. Actually not," Clara said, "Unless you and Symphony have met."

"Which we haven't," I pointed out. Although, this girl sort of reminded me of my sister, Megan.

"So, why did you follow me?" she asked.

"To help," Clara replied, "You looked lost." The girl started to back away from us slowly.

"I don't believe you," she said. Clara turned to look behind her, as if she was about to tell a secret, then turned to face the girl again.

"I've got no idea who you might be. I've never been here before. I've never been anywhere like here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help," she said.

"Really?" the girl asked.

"Really really," Clara answered.

"Can you help me?" the girl asked.

"Well, we're still here," I said.

"Because I need to hide," she said, a bit frightened. What was she frightened of? Certainly not us; she knew we weren't going to hurt her. In the distance, I could slightly hear a faint mechanic whispering, like a wheezing robot. Clara held out a hand to the girl.

"I know the perfect box," she said.

Together as a group, we quickly ran through the bazaar and back to the TARDIS. I was further behind them and struggling to keep up with their quick pace. Struggle or not, I finally caught up to them at the TARDIS.

"What's this?" the girl asked.

"A space-shippy thing. Timey, spacey," Clara rambled as she closed the gate.

"The space shippy thing has a name. She's called the TARDIS," I said.

"She's teeny," the girl observed.

"You wait," Clara said before opening the doors to find... that they wouldn't budge. She tried to open them again, but to no avail.

"Oh, come on," she complained.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked.

"I don't know," Clara said. The TARDIS made some sort of growl like sound, which caused a look of shock to sprout on Clara's face.

"I don't think it likes me!" she said.

"This isn't an it! It's a she!" I said, mimicking the Doctor's words, "And the trick is to ask nicely," I walked closer to the doors, "TARDIS, could you please let us in for a minute? We need a place to hide." Just like magic, the doors unlocked, allowing me to push them open with ease. Once we were all inside, the girl looked fairly astonished.

"She's bigger on the inside!" she exclaimed, before running down the stairs.

"Hey! Hey, little girl," Clara called.

"My name's Merry," Merry replied. Clara and I looked at each other, then to the stairs, then started to walk down. Merry was sitting against the cabinet in the middle of the floor, and we both sat on either side of her.

"So, what's happening?" Clara asked, "Is someone trying to hurt you?"

"No. I'm just scared," Merry said.

"What are you scared of?" I asked.

"Getting it wrong," she said.

"Okay. Can you pretend that I'm totally a space alien and explain?" Clara asked. After a bit of thought, Merry finally gave an answer.

"I'm Merry Gejelh," she said.

"Really not local. Sorry," Clara said.

"Same here," I added.

"The Queen of Years? They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died."

"Okay," Clara said.

"I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle, every legend, every poem, every song," Merry said.

"Every single one?" I asked, astonished. When I was this girl's age, I hardly had my simple history straight! Merry nodded.

"Blimey, I hated history," Clara said.

"You and me both," I said.

"And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone. A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared," Merry said. I knew exactly what she was going through. Stage fright; I had it a lot when I was little.

"Everyone's scared when they're little. I used to be terrified of getting lost. Used to have nightmares about it," Clara said, "And then I got lost. Blackpool Beach, Bank holiday Monday, about ten billion people. I was about six. My worst nightmare come true."

"What happened?" Merry asked.

"My world ended. My heart broke. And then my mum found me. We had fish and chips, and she drove me home and she tucked me up and she told me a story," Clara said.

"And you were never scared again?" Merry asked.

"Oh, I was scared lots of times, but never of getting lost," Clara said, "So, this special song. What are you scared of exactly?"

"Getting it wrong. Making Grandfather angry," Merry said.

"Merry, I know exactly what you're going through," I said.

"You do?" she asked.

"Of course I do! When I was your age, I used to be absolutely terrified of preforming in front of a crowd. I still am, in fact. Especially when I'm around my peers and other people I know," I said, "One time, I was doing an audition for a school musical of mine. It was my first time in a school production and I was chilled to the bone. Then, when I got up on stage, everyone was so supportive of me that my previous fears washed away. So, Merry Gejelh, I know that you are not going to get it wrong in any way shape or form, and I also know that we will all be there to support you."

"Do you still think you'll get it wrong?" Clara asked, "Because we don't. We don't think you'll get it wrong. We think you, Merry Gejelh will get it very, very right." At that, Merry smiled and hugged us. We walked out of the TARDIS and back into the bazaar. I could see two men dressed in clothing similar to what Merry was wearing, and they could see us. Merry walked hesitantly towards them, pulling down her cloak to reveal a glistening golden crown. The two men led her away, but she looked back. I gave her two thumbs up as they rounded the corner. Someone tapped my shoulder, making me jump a bit.

"You're it!" only the Doctor could've said. I rolled my eyes.

"That ended long ago when you lost," I said.

"I didn't lose! You cheated!" he said.

"I did nothing of the sort," I said. The Doctor rolled his eyes at me.

"Anyways, what have you two been doing?" he asked.

"Exploring," Clara answered. Satisfied with the answer, the Doctor walked off.

"Now look who's walking away!" I said, running after him.

"Where are we going now?" Clara asked, chasing me down. By the time we finally got to the main arena, the sky was a dark brown color in contrast to its midday crimson shade when we landed here. The Doctor sprinted through the tunnel with Clara and I in his wake, and came to a sliding stop when we entered. Merry was standing on a pedestal facing the pyramid. The whole area was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That is, of course until the Doctor climbed through the first row of aliens to get to our seats. He sat in the middle of Clara and me, making us sandwiched between the second row.

"Are we even supposed to be here?" Clara whispered.

"Shush," the Doctor shushed.

"But are we?" she tried.

"Shush!" he repeated, "Sorry." Everything became silent again, and Merry looked back to us. Clara smiled, and I gave her two thumbs up again. She turned from us, and began to sing a song. Another voice from the pyramid joined in on the song.

"They're singing to the Mummy in the temple," the Doctor said, reading from a little leaflet he had, "They call it the Old God. Sometimes Grandfather."

"She mentioned not wanting to make grandfather angry," I said, "So that time she meant...?"

"The Old God. Yes," he answered.

"What are they singing?" Clara asked, wanting to change the subject.

"The Long Song. A lullaby without end to feed the Old God. Keep him asleep," the Doctor said, "It's been going for millions of years, chorister handing over to chorister, generation after generation after generation." As the two voices sang, the congregation held up small items in their hands.

"What are these?" I asked.

"Those are offerings. Gifts of value. Mementos to feed the Old God," he said. The objects dissolved into flecks of golden dust which flew high into the sky. It was such a beautiful sight that I couldn't help but smile. The singing continued, and pretty soon the whole congregation was in on the chorus. Even the Doctor was trying to sing a bit of the song. Everything was perfectly picturesque, until an ungodly cracking sound came from the pyramid. The singing immediately ceased and was replaced by voices strewn with panic and confusion. A golden tractor beam of sorts plucked Merry from her pedestal and began to pull her away.

"Okay, what's happening?" Clara asked as we stared in awe, "Is that supposed to happen?"

"I think it's safe to say that it isn't," I said.

"Help!" Merry cried. No one except the Doctor acted like they were worried.

"Is somebody going to do something? Excuse me, is somebody going to help her?" Clara asked the crowd surrounding us.

"Yes. We are," I said, pulling her from her seat and out of the arena. The Doctor was close to the other end of the tunnel by the time we caught up with him, and he was going at a very quick pace.

"Why are we walking away?" Clara asked, "We can't just walk away. This is my fault! I talked her into doing this."

"Actually we both did," I corrected. The Doctor stopped walking and turned to face us.

"Listen. There's one thing you need to know about traveling with me, and I'm pretty sure Symphony has already figured it out," the Doctor said.

"The blue box and the two hearts?" I tried.

"Well, besides those things," he said, "We don't walk away." We rounded another corner when the Doctor started up the yapping business with Doreen again. Doreen barked at him in return, then he turned to us.

"I need something precious," he said, then pointed a finger at me, "And don't even try to fit a Lord of The Rings reference in there. This is a serious matter."

"Wasn't even thinking of it, Doctor," I said.

"Anyways, you must have something. Either of you. All the places you've both seen, there must be something," Clara said. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver quickly.

"This. And I don't want to give it away because it comes in handy," he said, "Anything, Symph?" I checked my pockets and my purse, but only came up with my screwdriver and phone.

"Nothing," I reported.

"You're both hundreds of years old and that's it? Your spanners?" Clara asked.

"Screwdrivers," the Doctor and I corrected.

"We've got to stop doing that," I finished.

"We really do," he added. Clara was playing with a ring on her finger.

"It's my mum's," she said. Hesitantly, she slid the ring off her finger and handed it to Doreen. After some kind of value test, we were allowed to use the moped.

"No questions. You're driving," I said to the Doctor.

"Fine by me," he said. That was probably the biggest mistake I had made in my lives. We were going so fast that everything outside of the moped was a blur, but thankfully we slowed slightly when we caught up to Merry. Clara had a hand reached out to her, and Merry was doing the same. In an effort to pull her in easier, the Doctor went faster than before, almost making me sick.

"Merry!" Clara called. Her grip on the girl's hand was broken as the tractor beam pulled her into the pyramid.

"Hit the brakes!" I yelled, "For the love of Melody Malone would you slow down!" All to suddenly, the Doctor hit the brakes, causing us to crash land right outside the pyramid.

"Okay, time to let go," the Doctor instructed.

"I can't," Clara said.

"Girls, you have to," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it really hurts," he said. I let go in a hurry and stumbled over to a pyramid wall to lean on. I was focusing solely on not losing what little I had eaten today when the Doctor started sonicing the door.

"Oh, that's interesting," he said.

"What is?" I asked, walking over to him and Clara.

"A frequency modulated acoustic lock. The key changes ten million zillion squillion times a second," he said.

"Can you open it?" Clara asked.

"Technically, no. In reality, also no, but still, let's give it a stab," he said.

"Famous last words," I remarked. Clara squeaked and covered her eyes as the Doctor attempted to break down the door. as luck would have it, he failed and decided it would be better off to sonic the door.

"How can they just stand there and watch?" Clara asked.

"Because this is sacred ground," the Doctor replied.

"She's just a kid!" I said.

"And he's a god. Well, he is to them, anyway," he said, continuing to sonic the door.

"Need some help with that?" I asked.

"If you're offering," he said. I started sonicing the door on different frequencies, trying to catch the right tumblers, when Merry screamed from inside.


	12. Grandfather's Awake

**Grandfather's Awake**

"Merry!" Clara called, running over to the door, "Merry, hold on! We'll be there soon. Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, hello," the Doctor said. Something on our screwdrivers was acting up.

"Hello what?" Clara asked.

"Our sonics have locked onto the acoustic tumblers," he said.

"Meaning?" she asked.

"Meaning this gets to happen!" I exclaimed, pointing my sonic up the door. Slowly but surely, it began to rise. I found the door growing pretty heavy under my sonic, so the Doctor helped me lift the door up. Once it was open enough for us to see, Merry appeared to be standing in front of a glass case holding some kind of mummy inside of it.

"Hello there. I'm the Doctor, and you've met these two," he introduced, "Clara was supposed to be having a nice day out. Still, it's early yet. Are you coming?" Merry didn't show any kind of answer.

"This door is unbelievably heavy, by the way," I added.

"Leave," Merry said, "You'll wake him."

"Really quite extraordinarily heavy," the Doctor said. As if to prove a point, the door slid down, causing us to be pushed to our knees.

"Clara?" he called. Clara slid through the door, or what was open of it.

"Merry, we need to leave," she said.

"No. Go away!" Merry commanded.

"Not without you," Clara said.

"You said I wouldn't get it wrong and then I got it wrong. And now this has happened. Look what happened!" Merry shouted.

"You didn't get it wrong," Clara said, in an attempt to calm the girl down.

"How do you know? You don't know anything," Merry said, "You have to go! Go now, or he'll eat us all." All this time, the door was getting heavier and heavier. It was a struggle for the two of us to keep it open. Clara walked over to the encasement.

"Well, he's ugly," she said, pointing at the mummy, "But you know, to be honest, I don't think he looks big enough."

"Not our meat, our souls," Merry corrected. Clara held out a hand to Merry, but was taken aback by a purple energy Merry brought from her head.

"He doesn't want you. He wants me," she said, "If you don't leave, he'll eat you all up too."

"Yes, and you don't want that do you? You want us to walk out of this really quite astonishingly heavy door and never come back," the Doctor said.

"Yes," Merry answered.

"Thank you, Merry. Clara's right. Absolutely never gonna happen," I said. The door was about to fall on top of us, and we both knew it. In order to not be turned into two Time Lord pancakes, the Doctor and I slid into the pyramid. Our sonics were still under the door, and it was coming down fast. The Doctor managed to get his, but mine was crushed.

"Just my luck," I muttered.

"Did you just lock us in?" Clara asked.

"Yep," the Doctor said.

"With a soul eating monster?" she finished. He straightened his bow tie.

"Yep," he repeated.

"And is there actually a way to get out?" she asked.

"What? Before it eats our souls?" he asked in return.

"That would be better than the alternative," I said.

"Possibly. Probably. There usually seems to be," he said. I hadn't noticed the man crouched on the floor in clothes similar to Merry's. He was singing something.

"Doctor, he's still singing. Why is he still singing?" I asked.

"He's trying to sing the Old God back to sleep, but that's not going to happen. He's waking up, mate. Ready or not. You want to run," the Doctor said, getting at eye level with the man. He immediately stopped singing.

"That's it, then. Song's over," the Doctor said.

"The song is over," the man repeated, then rose to his feet, "My name is Chorister Rezh Baphix, and the Long Song ended with me." After the last word, he teleported out using a button on the bracelet he had.

"Is that it?" I asked. In response, the mummy behind me stood and roared.

"Ah ha! Look at that!" the Doctor exclaimed, walking around the glass cage.

"You've woken him!" Merry said. Clara tensed; the soul eating monster behind her was inches from her head.

"It's awake? What's it doing?" she asked.

"Oh, you know. Having a nice stretch," he said, then faced Merry, "No, we didn't wake him. And you didn't wake him, either. He's waking because it's his time to wake, and feed. On you apparently. On your stories."

"She didn't say stories. She said our souls," Clara corrected.

"Same difference," I pointed out, "Souls aren't made of atoms. Our souls are everything we've experienced. Good days, bad days, unexpected reunions, unexpected and expected losses alike. Every story we have or haven't told is part of our souls."

"So, if the Old God threatens to wake, they offer him a pure soul. The soul of The Queen of Years," the Doctor said. Merry looked absolutely chilled to the bone.

"Stop it. You're scaring her," Clara said.

"Good. She should be scared. She's sacrificing herself. She should know what that means," he said, "Do you know what it means, Merry?"

"A god chose me," she defended.

"It's not a god. It's as far from a god as you can get. If anything, it's a selfish, heartless parasite," I said, "And I really hope it's the one that's scared now." Merry still looked a bit frightened, so I wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard," the Doctor asked, "All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you. You are unique in the universe. There is only one Merry Gejelh. And there will never be another. Getting rid of that existence isn't a sacrifice. It is a waste."

The mummy roared louder than before, like it didn't care that he would be feeding off of something that would never be replaced.

"So, if I don't, then everyone else," Merry started.

"Will be fine," he finished for her. The mummy roared in the background.

"How?" she asked.

"There's always a way. It might not be clear at first, but eventually it reveals itself," I said.

"You promise?" she asked, "You both promise?" The Doctor made an 'X' motion with his hands across either side of his chest.

"Cross my hearts," he promised. I made the same motion.

"Me too," I added. The Doctor held out a hand, and Merry took it in hers. I held her other hand in mine. She released Clara, who quickly ran over to us.

"Having a nice stretch?" she asked. I could see a hole the mummy had made in the glass where Clara's head was. Neither the Doctor nor I had time to answer when the ground beneath us began to rumble.

"Something's coming," I mumbled.

"The Vigil," Merry said. The rumbling became more intense.

"And what's the Vigil?" the Doctor asked, slightly concerned.

"If the Queen of Years is unwilling to be feasted upon," Merry started.

"Yes?" the Doctor said.

"It's their job to feed her to Grandfather," she finished. Right on queue, three robots with round heads, large black eyes, mouths similar to tall sewage passages, and wearing all black clothing appeared in a puff of black smoke. They were, in a word, creepy.

"I'm sorry!" Merry apologized frantically, "I'm sorry!"

"Don't you dare," Clara warned the unwavering cyborgs.

"Yeah, stay back. I'm armed!" the Doctor said, brandishing his screwdriver, "With a screwdriver." The last part didn't sound very confident. The Vigil in the center sent a wave of energy out, tossing the screwdriver aside. Then, another blast sent the Doctor flying in a backwards somersault. The one on the right sent a blast at Clara, and the one one on the left did the same to me. We were both blown into the back of a wall.

The impact must've knocked me unconscious for near a minute, but still longer than Clara because she was currently dragging me out of the temple by my arm. The Doctor was fending off the Vigil with his screwdriver, slowly edging over to us. He had successfully encased them in a green forcefield, ran over, and pulled me to my feet.

"Those things sure do pack a wallop," I mused.

"Doctor! Symphony!" Clara called. We ran out back to the moped just in time to hear an ungodly roar erupt from the temple. A ray of light then shot out to the star behind us. The Vigil were closing in on us, but thankfully they disappeared.

"Those things are gonna haunt my nightmares," I remarked, "Where'd they go?"

"Grandfather's awake. They're of no function anymore," the Doctor said.

"Well, you could sound happier about it," Clara said. The ground trembled slightly.

"Actually, I think I may have made a but of a tactical boo-boo. More of a sematics mix-up, really," he said sheepishly.

"What boo-boo?" Clara asked, clearly worried.

"I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't. It was just Grandfather's alarm clock," he rambled.

"There is an Old God, then?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," he said. The sun in front of us began to grow more and more active.

"Oh, my stars," Clara breathed, "What do we do?" What could we do? It was two Time Lords, a girl who's died twice, and The Queen of Years, and we were all clueless and intimidated.

"Against that? I don't know. Do you know? Any of you? I don't know. Any ideas?" the Doctor rambled again.

"But you promised. You promised!" Merry accused.

"He did promise, and he won't break that promise," I said, trying to calm her down.

"He'll eat us all. He'll spread across the system, consuming the Seven Worlds. And when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars," she panicked. Apparently my attempt failed. I looked back up at the star. It's once soft red glow was now a harsh crimson blaze which was forming a face.

"I say leg it," Clara suggested.

"But where?" I asked.

"Don't know. Lake District?" she tried.

"Oh, the Lake District's lovely. Let's definitely go there," the Doctor piped in, getting off the topic of giant scary star for a moment, "We can eat scones. They do great scones in 1927."

"You're going to fight it, aren't you," Clara said.

"Regrettably, yes," he admitted, "I think I may be about to do that."

"It's really big," she mused.

"I've seen bigger," he assured.

"Really?" she asked.

"Are you joking? It's massive!" he answered.

"I'm staying with you," she said.

"No, you're not," he denied.

"Yes, I am. I can assist," Clara argued.

"No, you can't," he said, walking back to the doorway.

"What about all that stuff you said?" she asked. He kept walking away.

"We don't walk away. We never have, and we never will," I said. He immediately stopped and walked back over to us.

"No. We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run," he looked to Merry, then back to me, "We run and run as fast as we can and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow. Now, off you pop. Take the moped. I'll walk." He smiled, straightened his bow tie, and reentered the temple. There was no way I was gonna leave the Doctor here alone. No matter how much he argued, I would stay here.

"I'm staying," I told Clara, "Take Merry and get out of here."

"But the Doctor said for all of us to go back," she said.

"Clara, I've never really been one to always follow instructions. The Doctor's bitten off more than he can chew now, and he's gonna need my help," I said in return. Clara hesitated for a moment before climbing onto the moped with Merry.

"Good luck," she wished. I smiled at her as she flew back, leaving me and the Doctor to fight a giant star god thingy.

In order for my cover not to be blown, I hid behind the wall next to the doorway. I peeked through to see the Doctor standing near the edge of the planet, the star gazing down on him.

"Any ideas? No, didn't think so. Righty-o, then," he said to himself. Now he's talking to himself. That's not a good sign according to all the books I've read. When you need to ask yourself for advice, you know it's gonna be tough. But he wasn't really alone. I was there, only I was too chicken to actually waltz in. Strange. I was acting so confident in my skills just seconds earlier, and now I felt like a little girl stuck in a haunted house; terrified.

I had to toughen up. The Doctor had saved me so many times in the short amount of time I'd known him. He even helped me rediscover my true self. I had to return the favor. There were no second thoughts. I was helping him, and I wasn't gonna hear any lip about it.

"I've got an idea," I announced, walking in. He turned to me with a not so surprised look on his face.

"I was expecting you not to go with them," he said, "You're never gonna listen to me, are you?"

"Let's see... Nah," I said.

"Don't you realize how dangerous this is?" he asked.

"Danger? I laugh in the face of danger!" I exclaimed, giving a confident laugh along with it. Just to be funny, as it would seem, the star made a sound similar to laughter. The loudness and suddenness of the action caused my hand to hold the Doctor's hand in a near death grip.

"You were saying?" he asked.

"This isn't the proper place for gloating," I muttered. I wasn't the only one who was scared. I could tell that the Doctor was frightened. One would think that with over a thousand years of space time travel, one would have confronted a giant godly star, but it seems like that wasn't the case.

"Lordy," he mumbled under his breath, then a bit louder, "Are you sure you want to do this, Symphony?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," I said. We looked back at the star. In the distance, I could hear the faint sound of Merry singing. It was a different song this time. The Doctor smiled at her desire to help from so far away.

"Okay, then. That's what we'll do," he said, "We'll tell you a story. Symphony, would you care to take the first chapter?" I nodded and stepped forward a bit.

"Can you hear them? All these people who've lived in terror of you and your judgement? All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you. Can you hear them singing?" I asked, the voices from the amphitheater growing in volume, "Oh, you like to thing you're a god. But you're not a god. You're just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow. So, come on, then. Take ours. Take our memories. But I hope you've got a big appetite, because we have lived long lives and we have seen a few things."

Golden tendrils of energy came out of the star's mouth area and latched onto us. The star fed off our emotions and experiences, everything we had gone through; especially the things we had gone through together as a team. I was being drained of my energy, but the tendrils held me upright for the time being.

"I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the Universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment until nothing remained. No Time. No Space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman. I've watched universes freeze and creations burn," a tear escaped the Doctor's eye as he spoke, "I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I have lost things that you will never understand, but I've also found things that can never be replaced. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that would make parasite gods blaze! So, come on, then! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!"

The tendrils withdrew from us moments after our story was through, and the face of the star collapsed in on itself. We were lucky to be released, but unfortunately we were devoid of any energy at all. It didn't really take long for my legs to give out from underneath me, and the same happened to the Doctor just seconds after.

"Are you okay?" he asked in barely a whisper.

"Considering the circumstances, I think so," I rasped. Oh, I had so jinxed it when those words came from my mouth. The face on the star reappeared stronger than ever.

"What is it with things reappearing on us when we least expect them to? First the snow, and now a star," I wheezed. The Doctor made the best attempt to shrug in his weakened state. Thankfully, the calvary had just parked the moped and came running through the door. But Clara suddenly stopped when she saw us on our knees. I was actually fighting to keep on my knees and not to topple over in an unmoving huddle on the ground. I looked up to Clara and saw that she was holding a book called 101 Places To See in her arms. She hesitantly walked over to where we stood moments before.

"Still hungry?" she asked the star, "Well I brought this," she took a large pressed leaf out of the inside cover, "The most important leaf in human history. The most important leaf in human history!" the sun smiled, "It's full of stories, full of history. And full of a life that never got lived. Days that should have been that never were. Passed on to me," an energy tendril reached out to the leaf, "This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day that we live. An infinity. All the days that never came. And these are all my mum's." The Doctor slowly rose to his feet, and pulled me to mine, keeping an arm around me.  
"Well, come on then. Eat up," he said, "Are you full? I expect so, because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been. There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other." The leaf turned to energy.

"And infinity is always too much. Even for a gluttonous parasite like yourself," I croaked. The star began to implode, and once it was gone, the temple was covered in the black of night.

We drove the moped back to the TARDIS, entered, and I fell into a chair. The whole day had left me exhausted; the part before the soul eating god included.

"Doctor, quick question," I said. He looked up from the controls.

"What's up?" he said.

"Does that thing about me being a little bit human mean I need more sleep?" I asked. It had been puzzling me for awhile now. While both the Doctor and I were both Time Lords, it seemed like I was the one who slept more than him. Did he even sleep at all?

"Yes it does," he answered. I gave a thumbs up, walked out of the console and back to my room. Sleep was the only thing on my agenda at the moment, and I intended on getting more than enough hours of it tonight.


End file.
